


Move Over

by orphan_account



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Denial, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-06-04
Updated: 2008-06-04
Packaged: 2017-11-16 02:19:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 39,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/534394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is what happens when Naruto and Sakura spend the night together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

Dragging Naruto's bruised body through the gates of Konoha in the middle of the night was always fun. Yes, all the fun of being jabbed in the eyes repeatedly with each point of a shuriken. If you thought he made Sakura angry while he was conscious, oh boy did she have a few choice words for him tonight, conscious or otherwise. Preferably unconscious, so he wouldn't interrupt her.

Residents of the village hardly batted an eyelash at the trails of blood that slithered through the roads, for it was in the norm. It was even less shocking to find that trail stop at Naruto's door; it did almost daily. This night he just had to pick a fight with one of the senior jounin. One thing lead to another, and next thing you knew they were in an all out battle just outside of the gates. So much for tightening up the security around here, Konoha. You'd think they'd learn since the incident with... Sasuke, but no. Nothing doing. And now, she was stuck babysitting her ass of a teammate. It was either that, or Tsunade would give Ino extra hours of training as a healer nin, and damn if Sakura was ever going to lose to her again!

Naruto was a real mess. In fact, his clothes were so blotted with filth that simply reaching into his pocket and grabbing his key (did he even have keys?) made her cringe. No way, no how. Instead, she lifted his still form onto her back and dashed up the wall toward his window and fast as she could, wishing none of it would stain her clothing, though knowing it would. He owed her a new shirt!

Sakura hopped up onto the windowsill of his perpetually wide open window (the boy had no shame, really) and wasted no time dumping his limp body onto his bed. She gave him a good thump on the head for good measure on the way into the horrid apartment complex. Really, was it possible that an actual human being lived here? Not that Naruto was human or anything, too much of a waste of space. Oh boy was he gonna get it when he woke up!

She stomped toward the first thing that resembled a light switch in only the dim box of light the moon provided, and flipped it. Once the light was on, she was graced with the sight of the most unkempt apartment that had ever been her misfortune to step foot into. Did Naruto not know how to clean, or something?

"Owww, why does my head hurt?" she heard Naruto groan. She stood beside mountain of empty ramen cups and roach carcases all the way across the room from him. She supposed this was supposed to be the kitchen area, but it looked more like his own personal landfill. No matter, it had a faucet. Sakura wasn't going to dig through the filth in an attempt to find a cloth that wasn't glued to the floor with mold, so she pulled one of her own out of her pack, shoved all the ramen cups away from the faucet, and wet the cloth.

She then heard another groan come from Naruto's direction, and the cloth went flying toward him. A wet smack in the center of his face was all it took to shut him up, and it knocked him back down to his pillow to boot! Good aim.

"I don't want to hear one word out of your mouth," she grumbled, grabbing a fist full of his shirt once she reached the bed. She yanked the wet cloth from his eyes just so he could get a better idea as to how upset she was. "You hear me? NOT. ONE. _PEEP._ "

He cringed, deciding it was best to keep quiet while Sakura was liable to tear him in half with her bare hands. That girl was bloody scary when she was mad, and he needed to live long enough to become Hokage.

When she got to work on wiping all the crusted-over blood off his face, he just couldn't say a word. Not that Sakura cared, mind you. Silence in the presence of Uzumaki Naruto was one of those sacred things that just didn't last. At the moment, this one glorious moment, she needed the silence. The last thing she wanted was to be driven to thrash the guy even further to his death, whose doorstep he'd been stomping on not an hour ago. He sure knew how to pick all the wrong fights, and would never learn. Stupid Naruto.

Geez, and he had blood and dirt all over his clothes, too. It wasn't an unusual sight, but damn if he couldn't take it easy just a little bit every now and then. Feeling less like she wanted to pounce now, Sakura set the red-spotted cloth aside and leaned forward, catching a whiff of the grime collected on his clothing. He smelled of dirt and filth, and a little of his own sweat as well. Gross. What did she tell him about bathing daily? He must be doing everything possible to piss her off tonight.

"This needs to come off," she said, wasting no time in tugging the little zipper on his jacket, and wouldn't you know it. Leave it to Naruto's clothing to be just as stubborn as he! The damn zipper wouldn't budge. She knew she'd fry it with her chakra if she lost her cool, so she gave it about six more careful tugs before her patience went Snap!

Frustrated, she'd gone as far as to swing her leg over both of Naruto's, placing herself at a better angle to pull the thing loose. After the initial shock, he had "Whoa, cool!" written all over his face, eyes in slits, a smug grin, anything that'd get him slugged were she paying any attention to him. Whereas she? She was hardly conscious to the world outside the zipper anymore. What, did he have this thing glued to him? She wouldn't put it past him, she really wouldn't.

As Sakura's rage grew, Naruto's mind sank deeper into the gutter. Hey, whose wouldn't with a pretty girl squirming around on his lap, hehe. This must have been some kind of amazing dream come true, or something. He knew he was feeling lucky tonight for a reason. Maybe he didn't get to kick any ass, but hey. Kicking ass, getting ass, it was all the same to him.

Sakura couldn't take it anymore eventually, deciding this fugly excuse for an article of clothing couldn't be salvaged anyway, so she tore it clean off his body in a fit of rage. It took his wonderful stupor all of two seconds to fall into irate bemusement.

"HEY!" said Naruto, watching Sakura toss his favorite jacket aside as if it were some filthy vermin. This outrage lasted all of another two seconds when he realized Sakura was still on his lap, and her ass still felt good right where it was. Oh, and how fine her tiny little breasts looked from this short distance. Nah, on second thought, he'd sacrifice every bit of clothing he owned just for this. Hell, that was the point, wasn't it? He was a lucky boy tonight indeed!

It didn't take Sakura long to snap out of it and notice the way Naruto was ogling her, probably planning ways to feel her up like the disgusting pervert he'd morphed into. And how did she get on his lap, anyway? Oooh, she'd just about had it with this evening!

Sakura grabbed his wrist before fingertips even dared to graze the small of her back, then tossed him onto the floor with a swift flick of the wrist.

"Bathe. NOW."

And to the bathroom he ran, not about to argue with Sakura when her face looked red enough to burst into flames.

\---

While Naruto bathed, Sakura thought she'd do him a little favor and clean up around here a bit. Yeah, so it was past midnight and everyone in their right mind was all snuggled up all nice and cozy in bed. She had three trash bins going, and a load of laundry in the wash. Imagine her surprise when she found a washing machine in this little complex. It's a darn shame that Naruto didn't seem to use it much.

To her delight, she was able to find a spare set of sheets and blankets buried somewhere in the bowls of Naruto's storage. The ones on his bed smelled like dust and stale monkey piss. Boys were such pigs. Literally. She could probably give Naruto a nice mud pit to live in and he'd be the happiest guy alive. Why in the hell did she put up with him?

Ah, she was so glad to have cleared the floor of junk, so now came the mopping. No doubt those ambiguous pulls of filth on the floor would feel disgusting against her bare feet, so she'd just have to make them disappear. She'd wanted to take her shoes off all day, and damn if she was going to lose to Naruto's grotesque way of living. The mop was a good way to exercise her chakra, too, being able to use that to pull all the really gooey stuff out of the cracks. Can't beat the basics, lame as their old D-rank missions used to be.

That went and had to trigger a memory of Sasuke, didn't it? Sakura's chest used to squeeze, as if it were trying to crush her heart into more and more pieces every night she thought of him. That was over two years ago. Now? Heh. Now she'd just like to do what she'd always done with Naruto. She'd love to tan his hide for being such a stupid piece of shit, and then she'd look after him like the stupid little brother she never had. She still loved the bastard, but it wasn't the same. The heart he'd stomped to the ground barely managed to pull itself back together, and she refused to leave herself open to getting her heart crushed again. If leaving her behind was what her love meant to him, then she'd just have to find some other boyfriend. He could barely handle himself, let alone anyone else.

Well, the apartment was clean enough, she decided. Of course, it wasn't nearly as clean as her own room, but she wasn't in the mood to do much of anything. She was tired, and tired, and bone tired, and she was thinking of Sasuke. It really couldn't get any worse than that.

Oh well, at least she had some clean sheets to flop down upon. The glorious silence she now basked in was gone as soon as it started when she heard a startled gasp come from Naruto's direction.

"Ne, Sakura-chan! What happened to all my stuff? It's... "

"Clean in here?" she finished, propping herself up on her elbows. She knew this position pretty much screamed "these are my boobs, stare at them" but she was way too tired to care at the moment. It helped that he no longer smelled like crap. Bah, she'd kick his ass in the morning if she needed to.

"Why did you... did you mop my floor?"

"Yes. Thank me."

"Uh... "

"Naruto!"

"I didn't know you wore bras."

That struck an icy shard of silence through Sakura. Somehow her top managed to slide just the slightest bit to the left, revealing a thin, pink strap that hugged her shoulder. She shoved the top back up and zipped her shirt up higher so she'd feel less exposed. Never mind the part about kicking his ass tomorrow. If he said one more word, just ONE MORE, she'd... do... _something_. Something, because Naruto wasn't allowed to get away with _anything_.

She especially kept a close eye on him when he flopped down beside her. There were quite a few points in him she could jab with chakra to leave him in agonizing pain throughout the night. He'd better not tempt her more, even if he was a glutton for pain.

"I'd leave, but Tsunade-shishou wants me here, so you'd better behave yourself!" snapped Sakura. Now that the floor was dry, she finally braved removing her shoes, which must have been the best thing she'd felt all day. "By the way, find me some clothes to wear. Now I want a shower."

\---

Naruto could hardly believe all that was happening this evening. First, Sakura-chan carried him home, then she cleaned his apartment, and now she was naked in his shower. He truly was a glutton for punishment, a simple idiot really, and he liked where all this was going! He didn't care about why it was happening, but simply acknowledged that it was happening, and it was awesome.

She was so cute when she walked out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her hair, and her hands playing with the draw string of the smallest pair of pants he owned. He liked the way she looked in his clothes. He especially liked it that she probably wasn't wearing any underwear, but he'd keep that thought to himself. After all, he wasn't a stupid pervert like Ero-senin, but a super pervert who was about to get a pretty girl to lay down next to him in bed.

"Get off, I'm sleeping there," she said.

Well, that pushed one of Naruto's sad buttons. Not that he should have expected it to be that easy. If there's one thing he learned in all his years of ninja-ing around, it's that a man had to work for what he wanted, and he wanted Sakura-chan to sleep right next to him.

"There's room for two. My bed's real big and comfy, believe it."

"I don't trust you."

Sakura sat down beside him, and shoved him off the bed. Well, that approach obviously didn't work, and the sad puppy eyes Naruto was giving her from the floor didn't have much effect, either. He really had to think, which Uzumaki Naruto was as capable of doing as Rock Lee was capable of performing Ninjutsu.

"Come on! Let me on!" Naruto couldn't believe he had to start begging for permission to sleep on his own bed. Still, if it were Sakura, she could have him begging for permission to breathe if she so pleased. She'd done it several times, actually.

Sakura huffed and stuck her nose in the air.

"I'll buy you ramen tomorrow," he offered.

"Nope," she declined.

"I'll... clean your room?"

"Doesn't need it."

"I'll get naked."

"That's what I'm afraid of."

"I'll... rub your feet?"

"..."

Sakura had to admit, Naruto now drove a hard bargain there. With her feet, hell, her whole body feeling so horribly out of whack after a long day's work, she damn well deserved a good massage! Normally she'd flop down in her own bed after a typical day in the clinic and attempt to sleep the sores away, only to find that they were still there in the morning.

Oh, what the heck. If he tried anything too funny, Sakura could always beat him within an inch of his life, worse than any senior jounin ever could. Tsunade just said to babysit. She didn't say anything about being nice.

"Shoulders, too?" said Sakura.

Naruto's face lit up in the eager way that left one wondering how they could even say no to him in the first place. Well, Sakura had plenty of reasons, but those reasons stopped mattering once she got her damn foot massage.

\---

Naruto wouldn't know subtly if it jabbed him in the face.

Sakura knew he wasn't going to keep his hands off her. She just knew it.

It was now approaching 4AM, meaning sunrise was barely around the corner. She couldn't sleep well with another body in the bed. That's just how she was. When she and Ino were kids, Sakura had a hard time getting to sleep with her on the bed. To think, that was just Ino! How in the world did _Naruto_ talk her into this again?

Well, it was a pretty chilly night, so the extra warmth was a plus, at least. Still, she hated the moisture collecting behind her ear with each breath he took. She hated how one of his hands snaked around her waist and held her in place, and also how that hand came dangerously close to grazing her breasts. She hated how exposed she felt, wearing only his clothes. After all, she wasn't about to wear her dirty underwear to bed. Most of all, she hated how she now no longer had the heart or the energy to invest in getting him to take his hand off her.

Was it such a bad thing to feel fine right where she was, really? She thought alarm bells ought to have been going off in her head, but she couldn't even bring herself to be bothered by this contact, let alone alarmed. After all, it was just Naruto. He may have been a perv, but, well, there were silly pervs like him and Jiraiya-sama, and there drunken pigs and rapists. She'd much rather take Naruto.

The words _take Naruto_ sent the most horrific tingle throughout her body, starting with the area of which she felt most exposed. It didn't take a genius to figure out what that meant. Instead of pulling herself farther away from him, though, she pushed herself every so lightly into his body just to see if that'd make the feeling go away.

Nope, made it worse. She really hated how her common sense just died when it came to guys. She also didn't consider the fact that Naruto was wide awake, too, and she could feel how aroused he was. Oh great. He would now have the impression that she wanted him to do her.

"Ne, Sakura-chan."

Oh, for the love of...

Well, if anything happened, the least she could do was face it, and that's just what she did. She turned herself around in Naruto's one-armed embrace and stared him down.

"We should really get to sleep, you know," said Sakura, failing to resist the urge to reach out and cup his cheek. He was a blond, so it wasn't surprising to feel little prickles of hair on his cheek that she couldn't see. Oh, did she mention he was horny? Her little Naruto was all grown up all right, and ready and willing to rob her of her virginity if she so permitted. Should she permit? Should she not permit? She was feeling it, and not at the same time. It was about then the alarm bells finally started going off in her head. Once again Naruto had caught her in an odd stupor caused merely by fatigue. Fatigue!

The bells won.

She sprung up so swiftly that it flung Naruto off the bed.

"What were we just about to do?" said Sakura, more to herself than to Naruto.

He answered anyway, after untangling himself from a mess of sheets that went overboard with him. "I was going to ask if I could kiss you."

That really shouldn't have taken her by surprise, but it did. After all, his crush on her was no secret to anyone, especially her, which was why she was on her guard here. Again, it was just Naruto, and she supposed him asking for a kiss, as opposed to him asking for, heh, you know, was pretty all right. She didn't want to encourage him, though. Something just wouldn't be right about it.

"No," she said. "You can't."

Not tonight, anyway. After all, he'd done nothing but act a damn fool today, and she'd done nothing but favors for him all night. If he wanted a kiss some other time, he was going to have to earn it.

to be continued...


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Boys are stupid, stupid, stupid, but Sakura enjoys Naruto anyway. Sort of. Sometimes. Maybe.

CHAPTER 2

It was really hard to concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other, let alone be responsible for the lives of others on so little sleep. Sakura was so exhausted when she reported in to Tsunade the morning following the incident with Naruto. No amount of make-up, hair tricks, or caffeine could conceal the stagger in her step, or the unfocused nature of her eyes. Ino claimed her techniques with eye shadow were fool proof. Ino was also a bitch. This wasn't going to be a fun day.

Ino wasn't the only bitch apparently, because Tsunade found Sakura's whole report hilarious. "I was only expecting you to dump him off and leave," said Tsunade, and then another wave of tear-filled laughter sprung. Sakura groaned and rubbed her forehead. Awesome as she was, Tsunade was also obnoxious, stubborn, and loved to make trouble. In fact, Sakura insisted that Tsunade made her mission vague on purpose! Speaking of which, she called Jiraiya in to announce that he had won yet another bet. "I only meant for you to babysit him on the way to his place." What a joke! How could her master gamble on her love life. That was just... just... ugh!

"No student of mine leaves my training until he's become a babe magnet for even the toughest hags," said Jiraiya, earning him a punch in the head from Tsunade. Sakura was tempted to do the same, but unfortunately she had to respect her elders. That didn't mean she couldn't secretly enjoy the abuse her master inflicted on him, though; her inner especially loved it!

After a moment's thought, Sakura just kind of stood there and took her master's mockery with a grain of salt. So she took one little mission a little too literally. It wasn't that funny, but it also wasn't that big a deal. Nothing happened. It was a fairly painless night, despite the fact that it was a night spent with Naruto. A very long night, too. She didn't feel like doing any work at the clinic that day either. She was afraid she'd accidentally jutsu someone's liver into the vending machine, or something.

Tsunade must have been a mind-reader. Once the joking dispersed, she leaned her lips into her linked fingers and told her, "That will be all, Sakura. Go home and get some sleep."

"Huh?" said Sakura, as though her master were speaking in some intricate, foreign language that she had no hope in grasping. "But Tsunade-shishou, the clinic... "

"Not running on a hope, a prayer, and four cups of coffee, Sakura. You're not fit to be working today," said Tsunade, then she began snickering. In times like these Sakura sort of reminded Tsunade of Rock Lee, being all tenacious and determined to work. Why the girl wouldn't let the poor sap take her on a date... then again, even if she were younger the Hokage wouldn't give a freak with those eyebrows the time of day, admittedly. A shame that those with the best personalities always looked the ugliest. Unless you're Jiraiya. Then you're both ugly, and a disgusting pig.

And Jiraiya knew better than to ask Tsunade what she was snickering about when she snickered, especially when she was drunk. She wasn't drunk at the moment, but she thought she ought to be. If she wasn't the Hokage that had to set a great example for her minions, err, people, she'd invite Sakura along for a few rounds. The girl really could stand to loosen up a bit.

"Shishou, are you sure?" See what I mean? The girl worked too damn hard; it made Tsunade feel lazy. Not that there was anything wrong with being lazy, it was just wrong for the Hokage. Yeah, that's right, but guess who the Hokage was? Somebody had to do it right before Naruto inherited the throne. Well, the desk chair that gave Tsunade back problems. She'd invest some money into a new chair if she didn't need it to recruit ninja from other countries into helping out with the war. War sucked. She wished it had a stop button.

Tsunade started becoming irritated with her pupil's presence, so she rose her hand and made a shooing motion. Now was not a very good time to be around her.

"Yes, you've yet to take even ONE real sick day since you started working there last year! Go! Take the whole week off! Paid vacation. If I were you I would have taken fifty of them by now."

"Tsunade-sama, that's just lazy," said Shizune, in her usual chastising voice that Tsunade often disregarded. After all, who was the Hokage here? The Fire Country hadn't been doused in a real sea of flames yet, so she was obviously doing something right. In any case, Tsunade in her current position would never see a vacation as long as she lived. She didn't need Sakura suffering the same fate, especially when she didn't need to use a jutsu to conceal her age quite yet. Lucky girl. But not lucky enough if she didn't get to live a little in her young age.

"Sakura, get out of my office. Go do something! Get a nice haircut. Get your nails done. Get a massage. Mess around with Naruto. I don't care, just get out of here and have some fun... I need a drink. Shizune?"

"Yes, Tsunade-sama," said Shizune, exasperated with Tsunade's whining. For goodness sakes, this woman sixty going on sixteen. Well, she wasn't quite sixty yet, but she was getting there. Maybe it was time she acted her age, even if she was never going to look it.

With that, Sakura left her master's office in a flush of embarrassment. She didn't even have a say in any of it, and now she was on vacation. At least it was a paid vacation, or she may have tried harder to refuse. Maybe. She did need the money, but she also needed the rest. Well, she was going to get the rest now, wasn't she. In any case, with a whole week off from work she now had time to do some of the things she normally wouldn't have time for, like getting a nice haircut, and getting her nails done. She'd see Ino about that...

YAWN.

Later. She had a lot of sleep to catch up on first. She just kind of lugged her way through town, trying to remember where she lived for a minute. Her parents would be none too happy about the fact that Sakura spent the night with a boy. What's more, she almost did... well... almost doesn't count. All that mattered was that it was all just an honest mistake. Every girl was entitled to a couple of those.

In any case, she had to get home and sleep before she dropped dead asleep right in the middle of the road. That wouldn't exactly be the smartest thing ever, would it? Who knew what kind of freaks lurked around, even if it was daytime.

Speaking of which, she saw Konohamaru charging toward her as fast as he could, and he had gotten pretty darn fast. She barely had time to dodge, but his scarf accidentally snagged against the bottom of her heel and he fell back. Painfully.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch. Sakura-neechan?! It's terrible. Hide me," he said, and he grabbed onto her waist and hid behind her for all of two seconds when she turned and elbowed him in the head. Spotting no signs of danger, she gave him two seconds to explain himself before she accused him of attempting to cop a feel. Just as he was going to say something, they heard Moegi holler from a distance, so he took out his super secret fence board drape and hid himself against the nearest fence.

Two seconds later, Moegi charged toward Sakura exactly as Konohamaru had, but stopped a little more gracefully before the older girl panting for breath.

"Sa.. kur...a-nee... chan," she took a few more deep breaths, then said, "Have you seen Konohamaru anywhere?"

Judging by Konohamaru's fear and the rage in Moegi's eyes, something perverse must have taken place between the two of them a few minutes ago. Sakura felt the urge to out and tell her that he was hiding along the fence, but she wasn't feeling quite that mean for some strange reason.

"What did he do to make you so upset?" asked Sakura. He could have done a number of things, like his girl-on-girl jutsu, or peeped on her while she was showering, or worse! He could have told her that she looked fat! The jerk. But boys will be boys. Stupid, horrible, useless... but somehow lovable. When Moegi started to cry, Sakura didn't really know what to say. She wasn't getting any answers, so she had to be as broad and generic in her comfort as possible.

"Moegi-chan," said Sakura, kneeling down before the sobbing girl. "Boys are dumb. Dumb as dirt. NO. Dumber! They're like machines programmed to do stupid things."

The smaller girl's sobs dispersed into little sniffles, and Sakura gave her shoulder a squeeze.

"Sometimes, though, we have no choice but to forgive them. But that doesn't... "

"Way to go, Sakura-neechan," said Konohamaru, emerging from the fence without really thinking. Moegi's face bounced between joy and anger, but eventually she had a smile on her face.

"Konohamaru-chan," she sang, then she ran toward him and gave him the biggest hug in the world. Sakura meant to tell her that he shouldn't get away with whatever he did wrong, but she didn't really care that much. She suddenly felt very tired again, and just wanted to go home. "You didn't mean it when you looked up that lady's skirt, right? You just fell."

"Uh... right... " he said, and it had liar written all over it. Now Sakura wanted to deck him one, but more so she wanted to go home. Moegi continued to coo, and cuddle, and huggle him.

Then she punched him right into the fence he'd been hiding against.

Well, justice was served after all.

\---

Sometimes, Sakura really couldn't believe herself. Tired as she was, she'd barely managed to get her eyes closed when she flopped down into bed, let alone sleep. The sun was way too bright, even through the closed shades. Her bed was way too hot, even with the covers kicked off. Worst of all, she wished that Naruto was there.

She blamed her attraction toward him on her age, and her loneliness. She was well aware that girls her age weren't quite right in the head, and that she had to learn to overcome that if she were to survive in the Shinobi world. Learning that the hard way when Sasuke left weighed on her heavily. He would always be her first love, but if there was a reason for everything, then there was a reason why he needed to leave her; if she went with him she would have just been a powerless burden. Now, she was anything but powerless.

It was so pathetic. Sasuke had to be ripped out of the equation for her to unlock her full potential. He inspired her from afar, and held her back when near. Yet, she would do anything to get him back. Sure, he may never be happy, but maybe he'd be able to heal some. He would be safe here, where he belonged, where his new family would be waiting for him. Instead of the wife, though, Sakura compromised to take a big sister role. After all, he may not have been half the idiot he turned out to be if he had a few female role models in his life.

In any case, Sakura had vowed, along with her promise to protect Naruto and Sasuke, that she would not allow another boy play the strings of her heart and hold her back anymore. Sure, she would love to marry and have a family some day, but to allow a boy to hold her back... never again. She wouldn't give in to Sasuke's will anymore. She certainly wouldn't give into Naruto's!

That didn't stop her from imagining what being with him would be like, though. Probably stupid, though he had matured in the last few years. He certainly didn't show it the night before, but as she told Moegi, men were idiots. Useless, senseless, morons. They always took two steps back for every step forward at some point.

Sakura tossed herself around and hugged her pillow to her chest. There was no way Naruto wasn't thinking of... taking her. Yet he started with the request to kiss, a girl's greatest weakness. Who knows how far she would have gone if she had allowed him to kiss her? That may not have been so bad, though, but she was conventional in her desire to save that for someone special. Ino would probably tell Sakura to get real, but what the hell did she know?

This wasn't working. No use sleeping on a racing mind, she figured. It was beautiful outside, and she had an entire week to waste. She wondered what she should do first, at least until she looked in the mirror. Hair. Definitely hair.

Once she made herself presentable to the outside world (not that Ino's eyeshadow tricks were helping any) Sakura headed right for Ino's. There was no one else who gave her as satisfactory a haircut. It was also a reminder that Sakura couldn't pull off long hair the way that Ino could. That's just the way it was. Oh well. At least Ino looked like shit in the color red. They were even.

Sakura must have been out of it, because once she got to the block the flower shop was on, she could have sworn she had heard Naruto's voice. Tch, yeah right. This place wasn't anywhere near the ramen stand, or the training fields. What business could he possibly have on this side of town?

She thought she must have been hearing things in her exhaustion, when none other than Naruto himself greeted her when she walked into the flower shop. Ino must have been just as surprised, but if she was she did a good just hiding it. She now had a wry grin on her face, and stared directly through Sakura.

"My, Sakura. I thought you had such a rough night last night. What brings you out of bed?" Ino tossed, looking positively malicious. Sakura's slitted, blood-shot eyes snapped awake in an instant, and if looks could kill, Naruto and everything he had ever touched would have a slow and painful death to endure. Sakura couldn't believe he had blabbed! Why, why even HE knew that Ino was Konoha's gossip queen. She was the last person who needed to know.

"N-ne, Sakura-chan. I got you... " but before he could finish, Sakura decked him so hard that he went flying right through the wall. This wasn't some kind of game or bragging right. This was a woman's feelings here! Naruto was dead. SO dead. So DEAD. SO DEAD. SO. VERY. DEAD.

"You were on duty all night, and Naruto bought you flowers as a token for all your hard work. Great reason to punch him through the wall. By the way, who's going to fix it?" said Ino, evil smirk sunk into an irritated frown. It took a moment for that to sink in, and then it hit her. Oh no! What in the world had she done? Sakura was about to run out and see if he was all right, but he walked right back in with a fist-shaped mark on one cheek, a few splinters, and ruined flowers in one hand.

"Oh, Naruto, I'm so sorry," said Sakura, which was so weird for her that Naruto actually blushed. She never apologized for hitting him, whether he deserved it or not. Often he felt he didn't deserve it, but this time he knew he didn't. He felt horribly confused, and kind of mad. More so that the flowers he had taken forever to pick out were all messed up now.

"Eh, it's all right, Sakura-chan, except... "

"Hel-LO. Who am I holding responsible for the wall?" said Ino. Well, thought Sakura, there goes my haircut. Before she could say anything, Naruto grumbled, borrowed a hammer from Ino, and got right to work. He hadn't even tried to blame Sakura, though it was entirely her fault. Great, now she owed him! Oh well.

She at least lent a hand with sweeping debris off the floor, and when that was done Ino was in a better mood; however, Sakura didn't know if she should trust Ino with her hair after having pissed her off once today. Still, she took the chance and Ino agreed without so much as a grumble. That was when the whispering between the two began.

"So why exactly did you get so mad, anyway?" asked Ino, and though Sakura couldn't see Ino, she could hear the evil smirk in her voice. It would be too hard to lie, since Ino apparently knew that she had a rough night. Besides, Sakura was too tired to think of any good stories. She told Ino the whole story, knowing the consequences later would abominable. Or maybe not. Supposedly they were best friends.

The explanation and the haircut ended, and Sakura wrapped her arms around herself, willing herself not to be sick with embarrassment. She used to be proud to be in love with Sasuke, yet Naruto was something else entirely. Before she could mull over what exactly that something was, he had returned with Ino's hammer and a frown etched on his face.

"There. I fixed your dumb wall, bitch," he said, and this time it was Ino's turn to let him eat her fist. He only flew into the wall, rather than through it. Gah, Sakura one-upping her was so very annoying. She would need to get stronger, then! To Tsunade she would go, later, when she was done working.

"Well, I'll see you later, Ino. Thanks," said Sakura, dragging Naruto up off the ground and along with her. She had her hand clenched to the cuff of his shirt, and eventually slid it into his when she was far, far away from the flower shop, or any busy part of Konoha actually. Naruto tried to say something, but she shushed him. And shushed him. And shushed him. And then they reached Ichiraku ramen, where thankfully no one was this evening.

"As a token of appreciation for the flowers, and an apology... " said Sakura, and before she could finish she was cut off by happy whoops and cheers.

"Yes, a date! A date!" said Naruto, and Sakura kicked him in the shins.

"Not so loud, stupid!" It was bad enough Ino knew all about them now, but did he really have to announce it to the whole village. It sort of went without saying that they were close, but she still wanted to be in control over how close they got. After all...

Bah, screw it. She was on vacation. She'd do whatever she damn well pleased, and who cares what anybody thought.

to be continued...


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Boys aren't always that stupid, though. Sometimes they're just trying to be nice.

CHAPTER 3

Naruto sucked down his ramen like a vacuum, munching and slurping all of the contents into his stomach while the night passed. Somehow, Sakura just knew offering to treat him tonight was going to cost her a fortune, but it didn't matter. She got paid well at the clinic, and she was on a week's worth of paid vacation. If anything, concern for Naruto's health should have been above everything on the list. How could anyone ingest so much food so quickly? And how come he didn't end up fat like Chouji? This was insane!

"Ah!" said Naruto, bending back a bit to rub his full stomach. "Now THAT'S the stuff!" No more than eight empty ramen bowls were towering over their heads, and Sakura hadn't even finished her one. Being a lady of her promise, she reached into her pocket to pull out the ryou to pay for all of it, but Naruto beat her to it. Before she could protest, he was already heading out the door, motioning for her to follow.

"Thanks for dinner, old man!" he said, waving good night as he and Sakura headed out into the night. Well, so much for that. Naruto seemed pretty chipper that evening. It was a little odd standing next to him like this while, unlike her boobs (mutter, mutter), he simply could not stop growing. He almost had a head on her by now, and damn if he weren't utterly handsome. She always thought he had a good smile, but come on! He couldn't be getting this gorgeous on her, could he? Not goofy little Naruto, bottom of the class, dork of dorks, you name it.

They walked along side by side for awhile, Naruto surprisingly silent for the happy aura he'd surrounded himself in. Sakura had to admit that she found it a bit flattering that her company and some ramen could put someone in such a good mood. Naruto may have dreamed big, but the simple things made him happy all the same. She wondered briefly if she should slide her hand into his, but thought against it the moment her hand twitched in his direction. She didn't want him getting the wrong idea or anything. Then again, if you asked her what the wrong idea was she couldn't tell you. Since the previous night spent with Naruto, she didn't know what to think of him anymore.

\---

_"I'll get naked."_

_"That's what I'm afraid of."_

\---

_Most of all, she hated how she now no longer had the heart or the energy to invest in getting him to take his hand off her._

\---

_"What were we just about to do?" said Sakura, more to herself than to Naruto._

_He answered anyway, after untangling himself from a mess of sheets that went overboard with him. "I was going to ask if I could kiss you."_

\---

"Hey, Sakura!" said Naruto. She'd spent more time thinking than watching where they were headed. Like a gentleman he'd walked her straight home, and her cheeks colored a little. Well, that was awfully sweet of him. She could feel the wind pick up around them and a few leaves drifted by. There wasn't a soul in sight, and she was getting awfully cold. Maybe, she thought, that he had earned that kiss that he'd asked for the previous night. After all, she wasn't expecting him to pay for the dinner, and he wasn't too bitter about the whole flower thing.

"Naruto," said Sakura, and this time the wind sent a chill up her spine. She could hear thunder off in the distance. It would rain any moment. "Um, good night."

She walked off as casually as could be. She could feel her exhaustion from earlier in the day begin to crash over her like waves. Not to mention her nerves couldn't sustain the concept of actually kissing Naruto. It was just too weird right now. It probably always would be weird. He was supposed to be nothing more than a very good friend of hers, and one of the boys she vowed to protect with her life. They were like brother and sister in a way, though he likely didn't feel that way. She'd have to work on getting the two of them back on the same page before things got out of hand. It was time to sleep on it.

"Sweet dreams, Sakura-chan," he said, speeding off before she could turn around to get a last good look at him. She made a note to herself that she'd have to give him some kind of kiss sometime, at least. She could feel her inner begin to seethe with rage for thinking too much and letting that "hotty" go. Well, reasonable Sakura may not go as far as to think of Naruto as a hotty, but that's just because he was Naruto.

It was always just because he was Naruto, though. Sakura knew she'd need to fall out of that habit soon, the habit of thinking he was the same 12-year old idiot whom she couldn't stand during her days at the academy. Sometimes he even stunned her with how much he grew, and sometimes stunned her with how stupid he could still be. She wasn't entirely sure about him, so she'd give it some time.

Though it was pretty hard to deny now that she was fiercely attracted to him.

\---

When Naruto had told her "sweet dreams" she hadn't expected to actually have one. There was a time in her life she, oh, she wanted to say she was around 10-ish when it happened. It was Sasuke's birthday, and she'd slaved over a hot oven for hours trying to get his birthday cupcakes just right. This was no joke either, seeing as his birthday was during the summer. She didn't know which flavor he liked, so she settled for making every flavor that was in the cabinets and hoped for the best. There were even extras in case something went wrong, which it almost always did knowing her luck.

From that point in the flashback dream she zipped over to the part where she'd gotten to his door. She found all kinds of sweets from the other girls in the trash in front of his house, which made her giggle. Of course they were in the trash, because unlike them Sakura was special, or so she told herself. When he came to the door she stuttered out a very happy birthday and offered him the cupcakes.

"Well gee, you really shouldn't have," said Sasuke, and she thought he meant it in an endearing way, rather than a literal way. "Just put 'em on top of the others, will ya?"

By others, he meant the ones that were in the trash. She knew that's what he meant now, but at the time she'd told herself that there was a pile of gifts inside that she could place them upon. Funny how he wasn't inviting her in, though. Maybe he was just thinking up a cool, romantic way to ask her in. Oh, she wanted to squeal so loud, but barely managed to hold it in.

After awhile of him just staring down at her, waiting for her to go away, she was starting to grow a little irritated. Maybe he preferred girls that took the initiative. Yes, that was it! "Aren't you going to invite me in?" asked Sakura, and Sasuke looked at her as though she'd just asked him to do a hand-stand in a purple, polka-dotted dress. Still, grim as the situation was she was still hopeful. He may have put up this great, big tough front, but all the girls knew that he was a big, sensitive softy inside. He was just playing hard to get.

"Tell you what," he said. "You give me those and go on about your business."

So he took the cupcakes, and he closed the door in her face. At least he didn't throw them in the trash. Well, he didn't throw them in the trash in front of her anyway. He at least had the decency to do that much for her.

Then she was taken to the moment of the flashback that had previously angered her the most. She had gotten maybe halfway back home when she was stopped in the middle of the road by... a cupcake? She could hear munching in her ear, and her entire face flushed red. She could just hear Sasuke whispering in her ear about how she wasn't like the other girls, and how her sweets were the sweetest, having the essence of true love lined onto every sugar crystal. Oh, she knew he'd come through for her!

But when she turned around, it wasn't Sasuke that she saw, but Naruto, munching away on cupcakes that certainly did not belong to him! The pit of her stomach had been ignited, and the side of her face turned an alarming shade of red. How dare he!

"Ne, Sa-ku-ra-chyaan. These cupcakes are awesome! I dunno what that Sasuke-teme was thinking when he tried to throw them out, but I saved 'em. You should try one to make you feel better."

"He tried to... " Sakura's enraged stupor fluttered off for a moment, imagining her sweets stock piled in the trash upon Ino's, Hikari's, Flora's, and everyone else who loved Sasuke. She, for just the briefest moment, wanted to thank Naruto for saving all of her hard work from such an unworthy fate, but her pride got in the way. All she felt for him was pure, unadulterated hatred at the moment. It was simply unheard of to blame Sasuke for anything, so obviously it was Naruto's fault. That was when her rage increased ten, no, fifty fold.

"SHANNARO!" she shrieked at the top of her lungs. The entire neighborhood watched as Sakura's fist shot into his face like a bullet, sending him and the rest of her cupcakes flying back a good twenty feet. When the entire ground was now littered with her sweets, she had gotten the idea that he must have stolen them from Sasuke's house without his permission. That was the lowest she had ever seen Naruto go. "You are the most horrible piece of slime in the village, Naruto. I hate you!"

"Is he bothering you, young lady?" said a plump old woman hanging up her laundry. She'd grabbed her rake from the side of the house and proceeded toward Naruto with five other villagers on tow, each with their own mop, broom, or whatever. Naruto ran from them as quickly as he could, and Sakura walked home, at least glad there were extras so Sasuke would get his birthday sweets after all.

It was about then that Sakura's eyes fluttered awake, and she felt, well, sad. Pretty guilty actually. She had taken the spare batch of cupcakes to Sasuke, too, and they most likely ended up in the garbage. The girls learned in time that Sasuke didn't like sweets, so eventually they stopped giving him things for his birthday. It was too hot to be baking anyway.

Even so, all of the girls who gave him sweets would rather die than admit that their specific batch ended up in the trash. That just went to show how well they knew Sasuke.

Naruto seemed to like sweets just fine, though, and his birthday was actually in a good spot for baking. She'd have to make a note to do something nice for his birthday. Come to think of it, she doubted she'd ever done anything for Naruto's birthday ever. That was such a shame. She'd immediately marked his birthday on her calendar which, unfortunately, was quite a ways off, but it made her feel just a little bit better about her little flashback there.

Sometimes she didn't know just how mean she was to Naruto. It always seemed like a case of "I'm mean because he's stupid" but she was growing a little less sure of that as the days went on. She was sorry in the case of the cupcakes, anyway. She'd been totally wrong about that one, but at least things were different now. She'd been fortunate to wind up on the same team as him after all.

In any case, this was the first real day real day of her vacation and she wanted to make the best of it. She'd already gotten her hair done, so maybe nails and a trip to the public bathhouse were in order. It was time to kick back and calm her nerves for awhile. She could certainly stand to put her mind at ease.

\---

Karma had a horrible way of of playing payback with her, especially after the dream she'd had last night. What was going to be a day of relaxation and rejuvenation turned out to be one pile of hell after another. The baths were closed due to someone having dyed all the water there purple. Ino wasn't around to bother for a decent manicure because she was off on a mission and wouldn't be back for awhile. Well, there goes the one female friend she had that she had yet to fall out of touch with. She'd tripped over a rock not watching where she was going and fell flat on her face, getting her clothes all dirty. Well, some forces of evil didn't want her out in public, which was something she could deal with actually.

What she couldn't deal with, scratch that. What she positively, absolutely couldn't stand, was that the water pipes in her apartment complex had exploded while she was out, and everyone had been evacuated and ordered to stay out for the rest of the day. A few days if they could help it. Sakura just hoped a few things in her apartment could be spared. Some books, her clothes, her photo of Team 7. She knew this wasn't her day, but did it really have to be this bad? She supposed she'd have to head straight to her parents' house, or request maybe a B-rank mission from Tsunade to take her mind off of it.

Oh, but she couldn't go on mission because she was on vacation. Most of her missions that weren't directly linked to someone after the Jinchuuriki these days were medical-based. Although she could fight, that was mostly to defend herself and protect her loved ones. Her use was mostly in healing, but she was forbidden to do just that and favored to have fun. It wasn't going to be much fun living at home with her parents through most of it, though.

"G'morning, Sakura-chan!" said Naruto, walking out of the Ichiraku Ramen booth. Figures he'd be there this time of day, munching down on ramen like there was no tomorrow. She'd have to get him to eat something other than that sometime, though. It just wasn't healthy.

"Hello, Naruto," said Sakura, willing herself not to cry on the spot. Her day hadn't gone at all well, and she was beyond frustrated. Naruto often played the sponge for her frustration by annoying her in the slightest and acting as her living punching bag. Not today, though. Not after the dream she had. She wanted to refrain from inflicting any sort of violence on him for awhile yet. It wasn't an easy thing to do when she was in a bad mood; however, her bad mood wasn't Naruto's fault, so she had to keep her cool.

"Why're you all dirty?" he asked. Easy, Sakura. It was embarrassing to have dirt all over her clothes when she wasn't on a mission. Part of the reason she'd gone back home was to change, but she obviously couldn't do that right now, could she? She could already feel the tears morph into anger, but all he did was ask a question. She had to keep her cool now. Had to.

"I... fell... " she said. It wasn't a lie. "And I can't go change because my apartment building is flooded at the moment." She sighed, wanting to punch the ground as hard as she could. She didn't, however, want to be held liable for whatever homes she destroyed in the process, so she'd have to take her anger out to the training field sometime.

"Oh," Naruto said, shuffling his feet around awkwardly as if to expect a lash out. It was sad, but Sakura did feel angry. For once she wasn't going to take it out on Naruto under any circumstances (not unless he did or said something really stupid, anyway.) She was just going to stand there, deal with it, and go to her parents.

"So, bye." Sakura turned around and walked away, feeling the anger dissipate gradually with every step. She was gonna make it. After all, it wasn't anyone's fault that her day just wasn't going well. Accidents happen, and she just needed to scream into her old pillow, or something.

For a moment she wondered what it would be like if Naruto invited her to stay at his place. It could very well be a far cry from her mother's nagging, but it just wasn't proper. Still, part of her (her inner) thought of how he'd had his warm arm wrapped around her, his breath stirring up the hair on the back of her neck, his warmth distracting her from a restful sleep.

_She really hated how her common sense just died when it came to guys._

Not today it wouldn't. She was just in too bad a mood.

"Where will you stay?" Naruto asked. Well, there it was, the underlying offer to his room, and part of her wanted it so badly. If there was one thing she'd learned by spending years in love with Sasuke, it's that letting boys leash you by the strings of your heart is a very back thing. It eventually leads to a heart being torn to shreds. She just wasn't going to go through that again, no matter how badly she wanted to take the invitation to move on.

"With my parents... " Of course, but if Naruto had plumbing problems, he wouldn't have had that option. It was sweet of him to show concern. Her inner was again trying to tell her that Naruto would offer her a chance to sleep next to that gorgeous bod of his again. Her inner also had no morals or common sense. There was simply no way that arrangement would be appropriate, even if they were on the same team.

"Oh, yeah. All right." He sounded a little nervous, rubbing the back of his head with a grin on his face.

At this point inner Sakura was screaming and condemning her for her morals, and if Sakura didn't risk looking like a total lunatic in public, she'd be beating her head against the fence until her inner voice stopped. It wasn't appropriate. Sure, she was a little attracted to him now, but she'd have to be the most shallow girl in the world to play with his feelings, only to revert back to Sasuke in the end. That was, assuming that she did. She just didn't know. She needed time to think about it.

"Naruto," said Sakura, turning back toward him with a smile. "If you'd like some company again tonight I'd be happy to stop by at your place."

She'd take the day to think about her options, her feelings, and sort them all out. Hopefully by the time she saw Naruto again she'd have an answer.

to be continued...


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sakura decides that she's going to love again. Let's just hope Naruto doesn't mess it up.

CHAPTER 4

When Sakura reached her house, she wasn't welcome home with open arms like she thought she'd be. In fact, she wasn't welcome home at all, because the door was locked and nobody was home. Not that a simple lock posed a problem to a ninja or anything, but it was just one more thing to add to the list of wrongs that have occurred that day. She thought it may be wise to go in, lock herself into her room, and not come out until her own apartment was dry.

Knowing this house like the back of her hand, Sakura bolted all the way up the wall until she reached the balcony that lead to her room. If she knew her parents well, she knew that they had yet to notice anything about the busted lock on this particular door. In Sakura's earlier fantasies, she imagined Sasuke easily making his way through those sliding glass doors in the middle of the night and greeting her with a midnight kiss that she'd never felt. It was stupid, really, how much her life seemed to revolve around Sasuke back in the day. No wonder he'd found her so annoying. Oh well, at least one of Sakura's pointless fantasies came in handy.

She slid the door open with ease, slipped into her old bedroom, and plopped down onto her old bed. It hadn't even reached midday yet, and everything one could possibly imagine seemed to have gone wrong. At least, she reasoned, that bad luck could taunt her, but it certainly couldn't defeat her. She also wouldn't lose to whatever internal battle she was having about her feelings toward Naruto.

At this point, and after this much thought and reasoning, Sakura felt she could safely admit that he was handsome. Of course he was! That Hinata girl who'd watched him always seemed to admire him, not that he'd ever notice. As soon as that thought crossed her weary mind, a chord was struck inside of her. What if he did notice one day? It didn't seem possible, seeing as the boy was dense as a brick when it came to romance. All the same, it wasn't impossible either. Hinata was a very pretty girl, if a little shy. She also had a body Sakura'd dismantle an entire country to have. Lacking nice full breasts and hips was something that annoyed Sakura greatly.

Then again, Naruto loved to make fun of the Hokage's breasts for being so big. He'd go as far as to say that there were two ton weights in them, and using them to smash in the skulls of her (male) adversaries was one of her super secret techniques. Sakura'd elbowed him right in the head for that one, and he deserved it. He laughed and oww'd at the same time about it, too.

That was a sign that big breasts weren't his thing, and if that were true then Hinata was probably out of the running. Sakura couldn't help but feel jealous when she got mental flashes of the two of them together, holding hands, smiling at one another, kissing. Kissing stung. Sakura clutched her stomach and shivered a little. Hinata was the heiress to one of Konoha's oldest and finest clans. She could have any man she wanted, and the two on her team would probably jump at the opportunity to take her out for a good time. She didn't need Naruto. It wasn't meant to be.

Sakura rolled over and punched the side of her mattress. Since when has thinking about Naruto with another woman become torture? This was obviously going way out of hand. Of course, the thought of Ino winning Sasuke over used to annoy the piss out of Sakura, but it never quite stung the way the thought of Naruto with another woman had. Then again, Ino never really stood a chance at winning Sasuke's affections. Hinata winning Naruto over, on the other hand, wasn't quite so impossible. Naruto didn't have to wait forever for Sakura to decide how she felt. In the ninja world, it was prudent to live life as if every day was your last. After all, every day could very well be your last.

She didn't know when it had happened, but Sakura drifted off to sleep. It was just a small nap, and didn't last anymore than twenty minutes or so. She was overwhelmed by thoughts, feelings, decisions. Being young and in love wasn't exactly a life-altering thing, unless you're Haruno Sakura, who took love very seriously. Even the mere thought, the phantom feeling of love could haunt and control her by the strings of her heart. She'd once centered her existence around Sasuke, all to come to the realization that he did not reciprocate her feelings. At this point, Sakura had felt the tears she'd been holding back for so long well up, and she cried quietly to herself. She had to purge her heart of her first love completely.

That wouldn't change what she really wanted, though. She wanted him back. She wanted Team 7 back to its old self, only with one huge difference. Sakura was no longer gunning to be Mrs. Uchiha, and she refused to be the damsel in distress that he always had to protect. When he came back, she would be his equal in strength. Like Naruto, she now saw him as a rival, a brother, and a friend. She would protect him with her life, and she would believe in him even when no one else would.

What she wouldn't be, though, is a slave to his vibe. She would also make damn sure that he knew what he was missing upon his return. Dump her off on a bench, will he. Well now she was dumping him, through her tears and through her pride. She now had room in her heart to love again, which was a space a certain Uchiha stood almost no chance at reoccupying at this point. After all, there was at least one guy out there that actually worked for it.

\---

"Oh, Sakura! It's so good to see you! How have you been?" said Mrs. Haruno, shocked and more than a little delighted to see her daughter up and about the house like old times. It was just her mother, seeing as her father was out on business in another country, but that was all right. It was nice that it was just the two of them. Since she'd moved out, Sakura couldn't help but appreciate her mother more and more.

"Just fine, mom. You don't mind if I stick around for a few days, right?" said Sakura with a sheepish grin on her face. After all, she had been so determined to move out just a few months prior, insisting that she could make end's meet on her own if she really worked hard. So far so good, except she lived in one of the cheapest apartment complexes there was, and it was currently under water right now. They must have had ancient pluming from the days of the first Hokage, or something.

"You're always welcome, dear. I'll go fix us up something good to eat. Why don't you relax a bit?" Her mom smiled at her on her way into the kitchen. Some food certainly couldn't hurt, seeing as Sakura had hardly eaten anything all day. While she was heading up the stairs, she decided to take a nice, long shower to clam her nerves. It was just another opportunity to think her options through, really, but the more of those she had, the quicker she'd come to her conclusion.

As she'd undressed and untied her hitai-ate from her head, she took a good, long look in the mirror. There were still traces of red in her eyes from her previous cry, and they still stung. She used to cry so much more back in the day, just how could she stand it? There was also a pensive wrinkle in the middle of her forehead. Her hair was a mess, and she could see traces of scars up and down her body. Even the mirror was against her today, and Sakura had to refrain from punching it. Her inner made a point to flip her reflection off, though. Sakura looked as pathetic as she felt, and she had no choice but to change that. No more feeling sorry for herself!

As she stepped into the shower, the cold spray she was initially greeted with made her flinch, but once it was warm enough to her liking she ducked her head under and sighed. She was so exhausted for some reason, and this helped her relax her tense muscles and drifting thoughts. Now that she'd flushed away most of her inner-turmoil through tears, it was about time she did the same on the outside. It was time that she unwind and stop worrying about Sasuke and Naruto so much. This moment was for her now, to give her the peace of mind Tsunade had practically ordered her to have.

She rubbed as much soap as she could into a wet wash cloth and scrubbed away. She started up high, behind the ears and in back of the neck. She took a deep breath when the sting around her shoulders peaked her senses. Boy, she'd need to put a nice, long massage on the list of things to do on her paid vacation. She scrubbed down her arms the longest, taking care to get every inch, especially on the underside. Then she scrubbed down her torso and up to her breasts, slowly examining what was her body. She didn't have the world's biggest breasts, nor did she have the tightest tummy, but she wasn't half bad looking. She didn't need to be too skinny, but sometimes she felt that it couldn't hurt. It wouldn't be too long until she went on her thousandth diet.

She scrubbed as high up her back as she could reach, and back down her spine. Then she scrubbed over the curve of her buttocks, satisfied that at least one part of her body was well-curved. It was one thing she had that Ino didn't, but it was still hard to beat Hinata. No matter, there were still the legs. They weren't too bad, but Sakura wanted to lose a few inches in the thighs. She didn't often see TenTen of Team Gai in any form-fitting pants, but when she did, she saw a pair of the thinnest, strongest legs that could only be brought on by her teacher's training. Sakura would ask Lee out for some training, but unfortunately she didn't have a death wish. This was another of her features she'd just have to deal with.

Once she'd gotten every nook and cranny of her body scrubbed, last came the hair. She'd shampooed that for a good long time, until the foam from the suds started creeping down her neck like leeches. It felt so good to shower like this, seeing as she hadn't in a very long time. After all, it'd always be a five-minute quickie and then off to work, but this? This felt nice. It felt nice to detach herself from her unfriendly world, if even for a little while. Last up she lathered her hair with conditioner and ducked under the spray. This was always her favorite part, because afterward she could run her fingers through it with ease. Like all good things, this one had to come to an end. Before she ran her parents' hot water quota clean, she shut off the shower and stepped out, toweling off her hair and body and throwing a bathrobe on. Her goal was to relax herself, but she'd felt that she'd done more than that. She'd rejuvenated herself.

Now there was no mountain she couldn't climb; no ocean she couldn't swim. She and her inner simultaneously pushed their fist out and laughed. This Sakura no longer felt sorry for herself, nope. This Sakura wanted to do some things, meet some people, and kick some ass.

"Sakura, dinner's ready!"

After she had something to eat, because boy was her stomach giving her what's for! She said boo to the diet she'd contemplated earlier. Starving herself never made her any skinnier anyway.

\---

Her mom really piled her plate on, and Sakura ate slowly, but plentifully. She and her mom talked about generic things of momentary unimportance, such as missions, clinical work, being one of the best trainees under Tsunade.

One great thing about Sakura's mom was that she wasn't a fuss, or a worry-wort. In fact, any other parents would have had a cow if their baby was placed on Naruto's team, but her parents didn't seem to mind. They were practically religious supporters of Sandaime's ideals, and if there was one thing that particular Hokage had that many of the villagers didn't, it was compassion for Naruto. Because he supported and cared for Naruto, Sakura's parents didn't mind him in quite the same way that most others did. They seemed more concerned about Sasuke ending up on her team. What a way to be torn down in the prime of her life. They believed an Uchiha was way beyond her, for she was a ninja born of a family that boarded between ordinary ninja and civilian status.

Sakura would have to change that about herself, and about her family. She was already becoming one of the most talented ninjas of the Haruno bloodline. She wasn't the strongest ninja, nor was she the most nimble, but she was very smart. In being so, she was about to exceed even some of her own expectations, and became much more than one to fill the third space on her team.

This was something that made her mother proud. Sakura had become brave and capable, which is why Mrs. Haruno had allowed her to go live on her own; to become her own person.

Above all, her mom trusted her to be nothing less than a success. It must have been a stroke of luck, rather than misfortune, that the water pipes had broken. It was nice to have this kind of talk with her mother. There was nothing else like it in the world.

That was, until the topic she'd avoided like the plague came up.

"So, have you found yourself a nice boyfriend yet? It's unbecoming of you to keep pining over the Uchiha boy," said her mother, and there went Sakura's good mood right out the door. She groaned and pushed her plate back, having lost her appetite. Sasuke was the last thing she wanted to talk about. In fact, the thought of boys in general was really going to be the death of her.

"No, mother. And I'm not pining over Sasuke either. In fact, I'm... over him," said Sakura, unsatisfied with the crack in her voice. It wasn't that she wasn't over him, because she really was. It was just hard to hear herself let go of something that had felt so strong and so right for the longest time. Although, every romantic fantasy of her's she'd ever thrown Sasuke in, every last one, were not scenes, hopes, or dreams that fit him in the slightest. He was not a kind person, nor was he romantic, and he didn't even try to be. He only put his heart and soul into life-or-death situations, and he cared enough for her to cut himself off from her life politely. He thanked her, but he left her. There was no longer a gaping wound in her heart that every thought of him poured salt into. All that was left was a scar, which was a reminder of her grave mistake. She had gotten too close to the wrong kind of guy, and was burned as a result. More than anything, she hated being reminded like this.

It was hard to admit that she was over him, yes, but that didn't make it any less true. Which reminded her, for the third night in a row she had a date with Naruto in a few.

"Excuse me," said Sakura, wiping a grain of rice off her lip. She left the table without so much as a passing look. Her mother's gaze weighed a ton on her back, but she kept on going. This was not the person to speak to about this sort of thing. Then again, Naruto wasn't either, seeing as he was part of the problem. The only difference was that he wouldn't bring up Sasuke in such a way.

When she reached her room, she'd gotten a glimpse of herself in her tall mirror, reminding her that she'd need to change out of that robe. First things first, though. She had to cool off a little, and a few moments on the balcony would do the trick.

The breeze picked her hair up instantly, and the stars in the sky twinkled. What a perfect evening it was, great for taking a nice, long walk in. She could practically see all the couples out now along the dirt roads, holding hands and talking about nothing in particular. That was one of her biggest romantic fantasies, aside from watching the sunset from the monument of the Hokages, or walking through a forest of cherry blossom trees along an endless gravel path as the petals blew around her and her lover. The thoughts gave her tingles. She knew she was getting a little too old for this stuff, but it didn't hurt to dream every now and then.

She needed to think of something romantic to fit the moment, though. It was chilly, so maybe her lover could place his coat around her shoulders. The two of them would lace fingers, lean in really close, and before leaning in to kiss they look up at the stars. Her lover is the first to look down, catching a glimpse of her star-strewn, bright green eyes. He leans in real close and tells her, "You've got stars in your eyes, Sakura."

It was about then that she sighed and shook her head. There was no way that sort of thing would happen. Men were only capable of being that romantic in movies. Well, that was what a woman's dream world was for. The vault of dreams doomed to never come true.

"You've got stars in your eyes, Sakura," said a voice from her side. She yelped in surprise, knowing damn well she should have sensed the presence beside her. What's more, the thought of Naruto reading her mind was outright creepy, which lead her to this question: Since when could Naruto read minds? Or was he? Could he?

"Naruto! Don't surprise me like that!" Sakura shouted. If the seat out there weren't attached to the balcony itself, she would have tossed it at him. In any case, she knew she had to get going. She told him she'd spend a bit of the evening with him, but no more than that! It was bad enough that she couldn't bring herself to call this whole thing off and have an evening without him for a change.

Naruto stood crouched on the rim of the balcony, and he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry about that. Couldn't resist."

"Damn it," Sakura muttered. "What are you doing here, anyway? I was just about to go see you."

"Yeah right, dressed in that?" said Naruto, and she could feel the perverted thoughts soaring through his mind. Yes, there was obviously nothing under her bathrobe. He was staring at her in such a way that lit her skin on fire, but she couldn't quite pinpoint the feeling, so she settled for her default. Rage.

"If you don't want me to break every bone in your damn body you'll quit staring at me like that," said Sakura, and fell back into the seat with fear. So he was horny, was he? Well, she'd just have to give him something to be horny about, and disappoint him dearly when he thought he had her wrapped in his sweet little fingers. With a pointed smirk on her face, she shoved open the sliding-glass door and glared over her shoulder. "I'm getting dressed now. Don't you dare think about peaking."

She slammed the door shut, and the curtains along with 'em, intentionally leaving a crack in the curtains open to test him. She just dared him to peep on her. She just dared him.

Sakura couldn't be happier about being back to normal again.

to be continued...


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sakura can't seem to put her feelings for Naruto into words. At least Naruto's good at reading people.

CHAPTER 5

Sakura swore she was a magnet to all the world's most awkward situations. There were times where she could be stuck up, clumsy, and far less than graceful, hence the reason she enjoyed the medical field so. When she was serious about her work and couldn't afford to be flawed, she didn't allow herself to be flawed. When she did her job, she did it right. There was simply no other way to do it.

When it came to romance, though, no matter how seriously she took it, she just couldn't seem to kick her flaws to the curb. With Sasuke, she'd pushed herself on him. She pushed and pushed until he finally got away to fulfill his own desires. With that, she was rendered helpless in the field of love. Since Sasuke, she couldn't seem to advert her eyes to anyone new in particular. She considered letting Lee take her out, but knew that if she gave him the wrong impression of her feelings it would only end up hurting him. He was the last person in the world who deserved to be hurt in that way.

There were plenty of other fish in the sea, though. Unfortunately, men weren't getting any cuter, nor were any she could find her type. In the Kunoichi world, it was practically a right of way to experience sex and love by no later than the age of seventeen. After all, unless you were nearly invincible, there seldom lived a ninja past the age of thirty if they lived true to their work, which Sakura would. Even if she chose to become a mother, she couldn't say for sure that she'd throw her career as a Kunoichi away like her mother had. There was something in the fight that she enjoyed, even if it could be a very unforgiving line of work.

If there were a time in her life where she had to let the past go, it was now. She left a crack in the curtains intentionally, so to dare Naruto to look at her. He wouldn't let himself be caught doing so, and if he did Sakura would just have to beat the stuffing out of him like she normally would have. It was called hard-to-get for a reason, after all; a game of wit. He'd be worth her time if he were at least smart enough to outsmart her in something, which, to her credit, was a difficult thing to do. She didn't receive top grades in her studies for nothing.

She hummed merrily as she casually stripped herself of her robe. The sudden chill on her bare skin made goose pimples pop up all along her arms and legs. She opened up her top drawer, pretending to dig for her undergarments when they were right there in front of her. Surely there were a pair of curious blue eyes etching their way across her body at this point, but that was only a guess. So long as it was a guess, Naruto was in the clear. Sakura proceeded to slowly dress herself.

\---

Naruto's heels bounced frantically along the pavement of the balcony, as he turned his gaze to the stars, the moon, the tree tops, the roof, the frame of the sliding-glass door-NO! Naruto shook his head and quivered in fear. Even to this day Naruto hadn't forgotten the story of Ero-sennin's first near-death experience. Naruto had yet to break the world's record of most eaten ramen, had yet to lose his virginity, had yet to drag Sasuke's ass back to Konoha, and most importantly had yet to become the greatest Hokage ever. He couldn't afford to die because he was curious, and maybe a little horny.

OK, make that very horny. When he heard her robe hit the floor over the wind, he broke out into a cold sweat. He had a golden window of opportunity to see her undressed with a crack that sized in the curtain. There was no reason for him to pass this up, because this chance would probably never present itself again. For all that he loved Sakura to death, she also scared him like no one else in the world could. Why did a girl THAT beautiful have to be such a violent prude? You would think she'd learn something from a girl like Ino, but then again Ino was the last kind of girl Naruto would want to be seen with. Sakura was pure, and beautiful, and realistic. Something about her seemed to put balance in Naruto's otherwise erratic life.

She was the best girl ever, and he'd just have to respect her privacy, no matter how painful it was.

Some things in the world were too painful, though. He heard the groan of an opening drawer, and his face glowed bright pink as the sweat drops flowed. He was suddenly reminded of the test Ibiki had given him during the Chuunin exams all those years ago. Torture as that was, it was nothing compared to this. He'd sit through a thousand of Ibiki's interrogations before getting even one serious punch in the face from Sakura. She could bash his head clean off if she wanted to.

Everything in his head was telling him YES and NO at the same time. He was tempted to bash his head against the rim of the balcony until his brain fell out. That would shut the voices up, but Sakura wouldn't exactly be happy with him if she found him dead and bleeding outside of her door. Just a few seconds more. Seriously, how long did it take for someone to get dressed anyway?

Jiraiya was way better at this kind of stuff. Compared to the old geezer, Naruto couldn't even begin to call himself a pervert. He'd seen plenty of naked girls on their journey. He'd learned all kinds of tricks and disguises. He could easily make a shadow clone and transform it into a spider on her window, or he could transform the clone into pane glass. He could do this without breaking a sweat when it came to any other girl. Sakura wasn't just any other girl to him, though. She was THE girl, but she came with violent tendencies, and above average intelligence. Like she couldn't figure out who that spider on her window, or was that weird reflection in the lamp light was.

_"If you don't want me to break every bone in your damn body you'll quit staring at me like that"_

You see, Naruto put on the front that he was an idiot. It helped him in his natural element of being the number one at surprising people. He may have been dead last Naruto, but he wasn't stupid. He knew where he could afford to risk his hide and where he couldn't. This was a couldn't, most definitely a shouldn't in the guise of a should.

To make up for this loss, he would just have to prove his charm by having not peaked! He didn't peak, and therefore he should win points toward eventually getting Sakura unclothed and in his bed. A real ninja had to look underneath the underneath. Having thought that, he wondered if Sakura left that crack there on purpose just to test his will. It spoke volumes of how well she could read Naruto, how she could interpret his intentions. It was about then that Naruto felt a little more flattered than he did horny. He just hoped this late night chill could do a little something about the latter.

\---

Sakura was proud, and somewhat shocked to find that Naruto hadn't tried peeping on her. Either that, or he hid it extremely well. As long as she didn't know, she would just have to keep her hands to herself, as he had (supposedly) kept his eyes to himself. Naruto was smarter than he let on, fortunately for Sakura. She'd heard tales of many an idiot boyfriend in various places, such as public bath houses, restaurants, and Ino. If only she could tell stories of all the stupid things she had seen Sasuke and Naruto do with someone other than Ino, but she couldn't. With the guys she was a ninja, and with the girls she was a woman. Those two worlds were rarely interchangeable, especially given that two out of three ninjas were male. Being a Kunoichi wasn't considered lady like.

Those musings aside, Sakura decided she had left Naruto out in the cold long enough. She pulled on her shoes as quickly as she could, humming a little tune to herself in the process. It had been awhile since she felt happy enough to hum. She'd run clear out of misery, and decided that, no matter what, she'd make this the best night she possibly could. That could be quite a challenge with Naruto, though, but not if she didn't let it be. Naruto was a sweet boy. All of his intentions would be good, no matter what.

"OK, I'm ready," said Sakura, walking up to the door. She was only dressed in a simple pair of red pants and a white t-shirt. She couldn't prolong her little nude show anymore than she had with the panties, or else Naruto would have figured her game out. Who knows what horrible things would happen if he thought she wanted to be seen naked by him?

"Took you long enough," said Naruto, his cheeks tinted red with something akin to embarrassment. Yeah right, Naruto couldn't even spell embarrassment, let alone be capable of it. Then again, Sakura did have to question how well she knew this boy exactly. For instance, she hadn't expected him to be as upset as he had been over the Kazekage's kidnapping. What's more, she really hadn't counted on him being the Nine-Tailed Fox's vessel. It would explain why he was so hated by the village. She always thought it was just because he was a nuisance.

There had to be something she could do, anything, to undo any of the damage his past had caused him. He was very strong on the outside, but how exactly was he on the inside? These were questions that burned in Sakura's mind time after time, and only grew stronger as her attraction toward him grew.

"Naruto," she said, not really knowing where this was going to go. She had his undivided attention, so she would have to make this quick so not to lose him. Now her face glowed with a rosy tint. "What, I mean, it's a beautiful night tonight, right?"

"Huh?" he glanced up at the stars, then back at Sakura. "Well, sure! It's as good as any other night, isn't it?"

A small vein popped on her forehead. That was such a guy kind of thing to say! No romance in that, though Naruto was supposed to be the romantic one. The things he chose to say were real hits and misses. She supposed that was all right. Too much romance would get real old, real fast. Still, she had no clue where what she was trying to say was going, and a little help would have been nice. Too bad she had to do all of the work around here. Sakura's inner was having a fit, too, wishing Sakura'd push her damn pride aside and rip Naruto's pants off already. What a pain!

"Let's go out and enjoy it... somehow," said Sakura, furious at how lame that sounded. She did her part, and it was up to Naruto to contribute to it. After all, if they started officially dating, he'd have to carry some of the weight in the relationship.

"I'm kinda not in the mood for ramen right now," said Naruto, to Sakura's surprise. She thought Ichiraku's was going to be the first thing he suggested, as it always was! Then again, he didn't sound entirely sincere. She didn't say anything, willing for him to explain himself and good. "It's what we always do on dates, you know?"

"You say that like we've been on many dates, Naruto," said Sakura, arms crossed over her chest and a stern look on her face.

"Well, yeah! This is the third night in a row we've been together."

"The first one doesn't count! I was told to be there, remember," said Sakura, failing to mention what Tsunade said the day following that. What he didn't know wouldn't kill him. She needed to keep some remnants of her pride and all. He did have a point about the ramen, though, and was glad. She wondered how he could live off of so much of that stuff. Didn't he ever have any vegetables, or fruit, or anything healthy for the matter?

"I don't know about you, but I think I'm in the mood for dango," he said, which made her even more weary. That was even less healthy than ramen! She hated how he could put so much garbage into his stomach and not gain a pound. The Kyuubi's chakra must have given him an iron metabolism, or something. She felt fat just thinking about dango.

\---

Dango it was, though. Sakura had a single stick of them where Naruto had several. They walked through town munching on their sweets and talking about nothing in particular. There was nothing exciting to do really, until they happened upon an exhausted Rock Lee. He had lost a bet with TenTen on Neji's sexual orientation (which Sakura wasn't surprised to hear, yet Naruto was shocked.) In any case, Rock Lee had climbed the monument of the Hokages three-hundred times, and claimed he could do it three-hundred times more if he hadn't broken his leg a couple of weeks ago. Sakura was the one who'd mended that nasty wound, and would have been disappointed in him if she hadn't expected him to act just this way.

"You did give me an idea, though. Thanks Lee-san!" said Sakura. She had taken Naruto's hand in hers and ran toward the monument. Just before they disappeared from sight, Sakura made a point to tell Lee to go home and rest his leg. That boy really worried her sometimes.

Naruto had asked Sakura several times what her idea was on the run up the monument; however, she just kept going. Sakura had a library of romantic dreams in her heart, and she had no clue where to start with them all. This was as good a night as any to get started. Moving on sure felt great.

As soon as she thought that, though, her heart began to pound against her chest. The run up such a short mountain wouldn't have even caused her to break a sweat normally, but the swarm of emotions that overloaded her senses? They almost distracted the chakra hold she had on the mountain.

She'd managed to reach the top, and her confident mood had left her behind. In fact, it probably stayed with Lee. There was nothing like his exuberance to get Sakura in the mood to do something crazy. Naruto was waiting for her to speak, and the two still hadn't parted hands. It was now or never, and she had absolutely nothing to be afraid of, right?

"When I was a girl, well I am a girl, but... " she said, hating how lame she was being. It was just Naruto! The fact that it was Naruto should have been the solution, not the problem. Admittedly, she was pretty lame around Sasuke as well, but that was different. It was easy to make a fool out of herself in front of Sasuke because she didn't stand a chance. He just wasn't interested in romance. Naruto, on the other hand, seemed very interested. She was afraid of how quickly this was all happening.

What was worse was that everyone seemed to know, and expect this of Sakura. She didn't take Sai's, or Yamato's words lightly inside. She did love Naruto. He was like her brother, maybe her best friend, and he was the person she trusted the most. This wasn't easy, because this was a great, big step. Possibly a step in the wrong direction. Romance was infamous for making, or breaking perfect relationships. She had no clue which would happen if she chose to push this.

"I dreamed of... Someone," Sasuke, who had evolved into a mere someone in this case. "And this place. It's stupid."

"Dreams aren't stupid," said Naruto, giving Sakura's hand a squeeze. She turned to meet his eyes, and he looked... patient, maybe? He must have figured out where this was going, and when she thought that she couldn't help but be a little embarrassed. Just how good was he at reading and understanding the feelings of others? What's more, just how good was he about making light of heavy situations?

He didn't think her dreams were stupid. That was a good sign, because she rather liked her romantic fantasies. She leaned forward close enough to feel the heat rising from his chest, and thought to place her free hand on his shoulder, but couldn't bring herself to. He'd been seeking this much longer than she had, and she wanted him to make the moves. After all, he'd have to learn the difference between OK and not OK when it came to her.

"I wanted to spend the night here with Someone, watching the stars all night until sunrise," she said with a sigh. It wasn't a very dreamy sigh, but it wasn't a very sad one either. It was what it was. Naruto probably thought she read too many romance novels, or something. That was true, actually. Sakura did a lot of reading in her spare time, and in little cracks of the day. Kind of like Kakashi, but she wasn't into perverted things. Just nice things, and intelligent things. Mostly nice things.

"Sakura, you... ?" said Naruto, eyes wide with surprise. He shouldn't have been all that surprised, right? Sakura's confidence was waning again, and she was about ready to let go of his hand and run home in silence when he pulled her into the warmest hug she had ever had. This time she had no choice but to rest her hand and head on his shoulder, feeling the thrum of their beating hearts against her chest. It was... she didn't know how to describe it. Was it fear? Anguish? Nervousness? She didn't feel sad at all, but she felt tears in her eyes anyway.

It was like nothing she had ever felt in her life, and it scared her. More so, it intrigued her. Naruto was so warm, kind, and considerate, and he loved her. This was no secret to Sakura, especially now where she knew he was conveying so much, and holding back so much more. How much could he hold in before exploding?

"Naruto, I don't know what I'm doing," said Sakura in a tight whisper. Her voice shook, and her tears surfaced. This wasn't the time to cry, was it? She had no reason to, but Naruto pulled back and let her hand go when he felt the tears soak through his shirt. "This is embarrassing." She scrubbed the tears from her eyes, only for a few more to fall. "I'm not even sad."

"Maybe you're happy?" said Naruto, his voice more hopeful than suggestive. She must have been, because her smile came easy. With the tears out of the way, her chest felt as light as a feather, like she didn't have to hide anything from him.

The two of them sat in silence for awhile, watching a few gray clouds drift over the stars. It was much more awkward than Sakura had ever dreamed, but if life were like all her dreams, then her life would be way too cheesy. It spoke volumes for Naruto to sit and endure one of her fantasies. She had the sinking suspicion that he was bored out of his mind, and truth be told, it was getting pretty boring. It was a wonder how Shikamaru could do this for fun.

"Naruto, are you awake?" said Sakura, nudging his side. He gave a light snore and jolted awake, murmuring something about a vicious ramen thief. Sakura giggled at his antics and slid herself directly beside him so their sides were touching. That woke him up!

"Sakura-chan?"

"Naruto, I think you might have earned something," said Sakura, her eyes on the horizon. They weren't anywhere near sunrise; she wouldn't be surprised to peer down at her watch only to find that it was only eleven-thirty, or something. Still, this fantasy was getting pretty stale, and she wanted to go home and get some rest. First things first, though

Naruto's eyes fell back into slits, until he felt her lips touch his cheek.

to be continued...


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naruto's thoughts on the progress his and Sakura's relationship has made.

CHAPTER 6

When he was young Naruto spent much of his time up at the Hokage monument, knowing his face would some day be carved up there along with the others. It was his thinking place, his hiding place, and once a place for his playful scorn. He wouldn't lose to any of the past leaders, not old lady Tsunade, and not old geezer Sandaime. It would be hard to live up to the Fourth's level, though. He was the coolest of all the Hokages, but Naruto really couldn't explain why. Maybe it was the hair.

In any case, Naruto had stopped visiting the monument religiously once he had become a ninja. There was no room for fantasizing about becoming Hokage; he had to actually go out into the world do it. He had to earn the respect he deserved from Konoha, just as Gaara had received from Suna. On top of that, he had a rival in Sasuke to show up, and a girl in Sakura to impress. Everything in his world was riding on him becoming the next Hokage.

Yet in the past few weeks Naruto couldn't help but feel drawn to his old thinking spot. This time, though, he wasn't slouching on the Fourth's head plotting ways to outdo him in being made of win. No, being Hokage surprisingly hadn't even crossed his mind. He had a more small-scale problem in the guise of a monumental catastrophe riding on his thoughts.

Not five feet away had Sakura kissed him, exactly three weeks and two days ago. Naruto knew he must have been losing it if he had bothered to remember exact days like that. He usually reserved keeping track of dates for ninja-related things, but Sakura had taken over his every thought, as opposed to the usual half of them.

Since losing many of its members, Akatsuki laid low for the most part. This made Konoha's council nervous, and Tsunade couldn't possibly ignore all of their pleas. Via their request, Naruto was finally ordered to stay in the village for all non-Sasuke related missions, which was the absolute best Tsunade could do for him. Naruto made a note to fire all the timid old farts in the council once he became Hokage, especially since there weren't enough cool missions he could go on to occupy his desire to kick some ass. Also, having Sakura on his mind at all times was getting a bit unnerving.

There were much worse things he could think about than Sakura, sure. He just didn't like the pathetic feeling that came with it. He finally got kissed by a real girl, if only on the cheek, and then he hadn't seen much of her since. She didn't have to say what she felt to get the message across. Things between them advanced way too fast in a short period of time, she realized it, and she backed off for awhile. Naruto didn't mind. She had to do whatever she had to do to get her mind straight.

That didn't mean Naruto had to like it, though. It was no wonder Sasuke ignored all of the girls who were going nuts over him. They were way too hard to figure out, and he had more important things to think about, such as killing the genjutsu master that was his brother. Poor guy. When he returned to Konoha, Naruto would beat him up and insult him (you know, guy stuff) just for old time's sakes. Sasuke would have an impossible time finding a nice girlfriend after what he did, though.

Not unless Sakura wanted him back, in which case Naruto would have to grin and bear it. The bearing it part would be next to impossible, but what else could he do for Sakura? A simple crush on whom he believed to be the prettiest girl in class turned into so much more when he got to know her. Sasuke thought she was a nuisance for the most part, but Naruto believed in her. Naruto would even swell with pride when anyone dared to imply that Sakura was better at something than Sasuke.

That was why the idea of her still wanting to be with Sasuke tore him up inside. She told him they'd find Sasuke together, and that they'd both endure Sai's crude nature together, and that they'd generally be there and support each other. They were a good match, and Naruto would do just about anything to keep even a small chance with Sakura alive, even if it meant distancing himself from her to give her some space.

He could still feel her timid little kiss on his cheek, too. She was so cute that he could have taken her into his arms again and never let her go. It was perfect, choosing the monument of all places as a spot to live out a romantic fantasy of hers. She'd gotten bored right in the middle of it, but Naruto couldn't complain because he was in good company. He hadn't meant to doze off. Laying down and thinking happy thoughts with Sakura nearby was a little too relaxing. Did he mention that the monument used to be his spot? Somehow she knew him that well, and it drove him nuts.

Their relationship was crawling ahead at snail speed toward what he had always wanted it to be, but that was better than when it was going in the opposite direction with Sasuke around. Naruto never thought for a minute that they were better off without him, because they weren't. The competition would be heated with Sasuke around, but that would make victory much richer if Sakura chose Naruto in the end.

He just had to do his best for her, no matter what.

\---

"Naruto-nii-chan, I need your help," said Konohamaru, with the subtlety of a marching band. He had tried to sneak up on Naruto as he always had, and yet Naruto could see through all of his disguises. He'd have to do better than transforming into some haphazardly placed mailbox.

"Make this quick. I'm a busy man, you know," said Naruto, pretending to be all bored and irritated, when in truth he was pretty grateful for the distraction. After spending hours brooding on the monument it was time to get off his ass and go punch something, or eat ramen. You know, whichever one came first. If Konohamaru wanted to be his punching bag then so be it. He was a big boy now. He could take it.

"It's kind of an embarrassing thing to talk about, so, err…" He was pressing the tips of his fingers together, blushing, and everything. This was a matter geared undoubtedly toward girl troubles, which was the one thing Naruto was no master at. After all, he himself was in the middle of a girl crisis. If he couldn't fix his own, what made Konohamaru think that his advice would be any good?

In any case, if Konohamaru chose to seek out his crappy help, he'd get it.

"This wouldn't happen to be about girls, would it?" Naruto asked, trying and failing to make it seem like a haphazard guess. All it took to answer his question was for the pink in the younger boy's cheeks rival the sun's radiant glow. Unlike Naruto, Konohamaru failed at surprises. He just wanted to get this horrible conversation over with.

"AH! Is it really that obvious?"

Naruto just laughed and jammed his thumb into his chest. "You can't kid a kidder, man."

Konohamaru laughed and scratched the back of his head. "That's just what I'd expect from my former boss and rival." Then his expression dropped to dead serious, unlike anything Naruto had ever seen before in this kid. The girl must have been the real deal, then. In fact, Naruto spotted what he assumed to be said girl peaking at them from behind a tree. Moegi only failed at concealing herself slightly less than Konohamaru.

Speaking of which, the younger boy launched into this big, panicked tirade that Naruto just had to grin and bear through. "She's… I mean I've known her for awhile, Nii-chan."

Konohamaru must have been deaf if he couldn't hear the gasp from behind the tree. For some reason it reminded Naruto of Hinata, but he couldn't quite say why. It would take a real dumbass not to see how Moegi felt for her exuberant teammate. It was just THAT obvious, but Naruto never said Konohamaru was smart.

"She's really smart, pretty, and fun! You should see her pull pranks, man. She's a goddess," said Konohamaru, and his eyes began to sparkle and shine. This time, the both of them heard a very obvious "THUD" from behind the hiding tree. Moegi fainted.

"Moegi? What ar… what's wrong?!" Konohamaru ran up to his fallen teammate and rested her head on his lap. It neither occurred to him to be embarrassed that she had heard the entire conversation, nor did it occur to him to ask why she was there in the first place. Something sure was fishy about this. Konohamaru's reaction just didn't sit right with Naruto. "Hey, Moegi, you sick or something? You don't look like you have a fever… "

"Idiot," murmured Naruto. "You just confessed your love to her, didn't you?"

"What?!" If Konohamaru's face grew any hotter it would have burst into flames. "Nii-chan, this is _Moegi_. She's my best friend, you can't be serious."

"Of course not," Naruto grumbled, now with Sakura on his mind again. If there was a law against liking your best friend in Konoha, Naruto's first priority as Hokage would be to destroy it. It was ridiculous, really. He could see the tears in Moegi's eyes already, but he refused to blow her cover. After all, she "fainted." She was a good prankster. Not good enough to fool Naruto, but who was he kidding? He was a darn genius when it came to this stuff.

"I was talking about Hyuuga-san," said Konohamaru, and down went Naruto's jaw. The only "Hyuuga-sans" he knew were Neji and Hinata, and the younger boy obviously liked girls, so Naruto came to a rather awkward conclusion.

He laughed his butt off. "Hinata?! YOU like HINATA? Man, that girl is _weird_. She's really nice, but… "

"No! I like her sister. Hyuuga Hanabi," said Konohamaru, and sparkle-sparkle went his eyes again. "She's the best girl ever, though she might be a bit out of my league, being a Hyuuga and all." He thought about that for a moment, and then laughed. "What am I saying!? I am Sandaime's grandson. _She's_ out of _my_ league, I think. But I don't care! I know it's something serious.

"So what do I do about it?" All of his previous confidence went out the window with that. Naruto thought to punch him clear across the face for a moment, but surely there was something more suitably horrible he could do.

Or not. There was only one thing Naruto could think of, and that was to motion Konohamaru to stand up. Once he did, Naruto punched him square in the face and watched him fly back a good half a block. What the heck, violence helped him think. The kid groaned and lifted himself up off the ground after such a nasty landing, brushing the dirt off his bottom. He glared straight into Naruto's eyes and asked, "What did you do that for?!"

"Instead of whining at me, just go tell the stupid girl how you feel! It's better than being pathetic… I guess."

"You're absolutely right," said Konohamaru, and he was all geared to run off to the Hyuuga clan, when he realized he had blood coming out of his nose. "I'd better clean up first.

"Bye, Naruto-nii-chan, and thanks! Oh, and take care of Moegi, won't you?"

With that, he was out of sight. Naruto had just relived a piece of his childhood that he cared to forget. He never did like it that Sakura preferred Sasuke over him. It was something that he lived with, and he never gave up hope that, even to this day, she would see how deeply he cared for her. It was maddening at times, especially now that Sasuke wasn't around. One of the things they shared was sadness that they couldn't bring their friend back, but Naruto wasn't just sad. He was also sad for how Sakura felt.

No matter what the outcome, he couldn't imagine himself in a world where he didn't love Sakura, which was kind of frustrating. After all, the hero is always supposed to get the girl, right? Maybe he had to be the hero first. He didn't feel like much of one while Sasuke wasn't around.

Despite that, Naruto still hated the fact that Sakura had a crush on Sasuke. She was only a small contribution to their rivalry, but outside of that she was so much more. She was Naruto's best friend, the person that he trusted the most, and had the most faith in. He loved her like crazy, and couldn't even begin to explain why he knew it was her. He knew she was the one. The problem was that she didn't feel it, too. Not yet, and maybe not ever.

That brought a real ache to his chest, and it hurt even more when Moegi woke up and started to cry. He knew exactly how it felt to be someone's silver medal, their "best friend" if you will. It wasn't enough, but for the sake of that person, it sometimes had to be.

"Moegi-chan, don't give up," said Naruto, grinning at the devastated girl on the ground. He helped her up, and took a swipe at some of her tears. Though he didn't show it, he did rather care for these three knuckleheads, though he wasn't too happy with one of them right now. Seriously, that Hyuuga family had serious issues. Naruto wouldn't be caught dead falling for any of them, though that wasn't to say that Hinata didn't deserve a good boyfriend. She was different in a good way, but still weird. Naruto would bet his hitai-ate that Kiba liked her.

"But, but… you heard what he said… " she sniffled, hiccuped, and tears continued to leak into her balled fists.

"Hmm, let's just say I know those words all too well, but it doesn't matter that much," said Naruto, his eyes drawn into a pensive line of discontent. There were so many times where he could have given up, and should have given up. Sakura seemed so enamored with Sasuke that all hope would have been lost with your average guy. Naruto was no average guy, though. He wouldn't give up until it was obviously over.

"Naruto-nii-chan, why did you tell him to go? Why?" _What if Hanabi returned Konohamaru's affections_ , was Moegi's underlying message. Unlike Hinata, and maybe Neji now, that Hyuuga clan had sticks up their asses the size of the Fire Country. If Hanabi were anything, anything at all like those stupid old geezers and their crappy little rules, Konohamaru would be met with a blunt rejection quicker than you can say poke attack, or whatever the hell that move Neji used was called.

Then again, he was Sandaime's grandson. It wasn't exactly like he had a small name in the village. She might just say yes. Who was to say they wouldn't drop each other like rocks after awhile, though? There was always room for hope in any situation. That's what Naruto liked to think.

"You're losing hope way too soon, kid. Quit feeling sorry for yourself and go do something," he said, and started walking off. It was getting late, and his stomach was starting to growl. This was enough babysitting for one day. He thought he ought to go off and take his own advice, but not before stopping for some ramen.

"Wait!" said Moegi, running up to him to catch up. She was winded more from the tears than the run, but when she turned toward him he could see a whole new attitude in her eyes. One that did know how to give up. He saved another soul from a state of help-doubt. He was a fricken hero once again. Could he eat now?

"Naruto-nii-chan, what should I do first?"

 _Let me go eat some damn dinner_ was his first thought, but he always found it hard to turn his back on people who had problems similar to his own. He asked her how much money she had on her, and for the price of a ramen dinner she would be taught everything he knew, which wasn't a whole lot, but hey. He was stuck babysitting. He had better get paid for it.

\---

After a long day of carrying angst and woes on his shoulders, including that of others, Naruto decided a nice, long sleep was in order. In fact, he wanted to crawl into bed and not leave until noon the next day. He would rather be dead asleep than bored out of his mind, and lonely. Sakura's work schedule sucked, and she got to go on more missions outside of Konoha than he did. No fair, she got to have all the fun.

Naruto looked up at the sky, not seeing a single star. The overcast was pretty dense, he wondered if it was supposed to rain. As soon as that thought crossed his mind, a single drop plopped onto his nose, followed by three, then onto a full-blown downpour. Good thing his apartment was nearby, or else he'd have to seek shelter elsewhere, giving him room to brood. He felt all brooded out, but his mind begged to differ. That was it! Tomorrow he would bust into Tsunade's office and demand busy work. He didn't care if a hundred ANBU guards had to follow him and "protect" him. So help him, Naruto would go nuts if he hung around in the solitary confinement that was this village (while Sakura wasn't around) any longer. He had to be able to do something.

First things first. He was so relived to have reached his apartment before he could be soaked to the bone. Deciding he didn't want to get his bed wet upon entry through the window, Naruto made a mad dash up the stairs, wanting to get out of his damp clothes before he started shivering. After all, he couldn't pose a very convincing argument about not having enough to do if he was sick.

He skidded to a halt and nearly fell forward when he saw who was standing in front of his apartment. It was none other than Sakura, with the same pensive look on her face that he must have had earlier that day. As long as it was Sakura and absolutely no one else messing up his groove, Naruto really couldn't complain. This was the girl that he adored, after all. He just hoped that this was going to be a happy visit, despite how awkward he felt standing there in silence.

"Sakura-chan?" said Naruto, taking a step closer. She didn't look very inclined to speak at the moment, as though to gather the exact words that she wanted. That was just fine with Naruto. He would much rather have her around, rather than spend hours and hours thinking about her. "Hey, long time, no see.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked, daring to take few more steps closer until he could feel the heat radiating off her body. He wanted to touch her, hold her, kiss her with all his might. Screw sleeping until noon, when he could spend the night with his girl. Well, she wasn't really his girl, but a guy could dream, couldn't he? In any case, there she was, looking way too serious for his liking. "Hey, Sakura. Snap out of it, would ya."

She pulled up her arm as though to strike him, and even made him flinch; however, when nothing came, Naruto had grown worried. Had he done something wrong? What was going on?

"Hey, Sakura…"

"Naruto, I…"

Both of them paused, shook their heads, and laughed a bit. Good to know she wasn't angry with him, but what she was doing there was still nagging him.

"You want to come inside?" Naruto offered, motioning toward the door as he unlocked it. She followed him in without as much as a nod. This was definitely strange, but if Sakura had something on her mind then she was always welcome to share. After all, what were friends and teammates for!

Once seated at the chair across from Naruto, Sakura took a few deep breaths and got right to the point. "Naruto, I think it's about time we talked."

to be continued…


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naruto and Sakura have their talk, and Tsunade and "Saki" have theirs.

CHAPTER 7

"Naruto, I think it's about time we talked," said Sakura, her voice devoid of any distinctive emotion. This meant one of two things to Naruto, someone precious to her has just walked out of her life, or he was in deep trouble. He sort of preferred the latter, reasoning that Sakura had enough on her plate as it was. Of course, he also preferred living. Maybe he would have rather crawled into bed than faced whatever it was that she needed to talk about after all.

When it came to Sakura, Naruto couldn't help but put her feelings first. He turned on his listening ears and gave her his undivided attention. If there was any way to face this, it was the Uzumaki Naruto way. The _"I'll never back down, and that's a promise"_ way, to be precise. Did she have to be so serious, though? The more the silence bounced between them, the more nervous he got.

Sakura placed her hand on top of his and told him, "I am about to tell you something I shouldn't. Please try not to say anything until I'm done."

"Eh? Something you shouldn't tell me? Why shouldn't you tell me? What's going on?" Naruto fired off questions until Sakura pounded her free fist against the table. He chuckled with a nervous grin and scratched the back of his head. "Oh, right, you're about to tell me. Sorry."

"You'll never guess who I just received a letter from," said Sakura, deciding immediately that that was probably a stupid approach to take. Naruto really had to bite his tongue this time, knowing he did not want to get Sakura angry in a situation where she was being serious.

Naruto awaited her answer, and when it never came she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small roll of parchment. She handed him the stained roll of paper, and his response was no less than stunned silly. The handwriting was unmistakable, and Naruto had to look that the name at the end of the short message over and over again to make sure he wasn't imagining it. If it were manly to shed tears of happiness, Naruto would have cried a river.

_Sakura,_

_I'll be at the Valley of the End waiting for you at dusk, Monday the 2nd. We'll discuss matters further from there. Come alo..._

_... Sasuke_

"Sasuke…"

"This could be our chance… " said Sakura, having been moved to tears for him. After all that time, the bastard simply couldn't break their bond. He was stupid for even trying, and Naruto couldn't wait to laugh in his face, scream in his face, punch him in his face, then maybe in the gut for good measure, for all the hurt he caused Sakura. Gosh, Sakura sure looked happy, now. Happier than he had seen her in a long time, and that was great.

He just wished he could bring her this kind of happiness, but this was no time to be selfish. He had a rat bastard of a friend to drag home.

"It's a shame he doesn't want you to come along. I think you miss him more than anyone, myself included," said Sakura, wiping away her tears with the heel of her hand. Suddenly it went quiet, and Naruto gave her the most incredulous look. "You did read the whole thing, didn't you?"

"Err…" Before he could refer back to the letter, Sakura snatched it from his grasp and proceeded to read the entire thing out loud to him.

 _"...come alone, and don't tell anyone about this, especially Naruto. I'm not in the mood for a rematch._ See, I don't think he's ready to face you yet… " because you're more important to him than I ever was, was the underlying message Naruto's brain did not compute. Then again, given the glimmers of joy flickering in her eyes, it was hard to know what she was thinking anymore. Naruto knew what she wasn't thinking, and that was that she just wanted to spend the night and cuddle with her man. Well, assuming she saw Naruto that way, but he was more confused on her feelings for him than she was.

The moment of truth came much sooner than Naruto had anticipated. A couple of them in fact. One was that Sasuke had reared his ugly head at long last, and two was finding out which guy Sakura now loved, if she loved either of them at this point. If Naruto's stomach caved in on itself any tighter, he'd turn inside out. His life went from boring to just plain wrong in a flash.

Speaking of wrong, he was pretty pissed that Sasuke didn't want to see him. What's worse, Sasuke wanted to see Sakura alone. If Naruto came, or risked coming, he could blow their only chance. Still, wild horses couldn't keep him away from his best friend, but Sakura could. If she asked him not to go, then he wouldn't. If she did, then to hell with what Sasuke wanted. The guy really needed to pull his head out of his ass for once in his life.

There were a few questions Naruto wanted to ask, and Sakura seemed to be at a loss for words. Whatever elaborate ramble she had planned was wiped clean the moment she opened her mouth. This was Naruto, after all. Bringing Sasuke home was a mission that they shared.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about this sooner. I wasn't going to, but I couldn't keep something this big, considering…" Naruto's eyes went wide for a moment, and once again Sakura was rendered silent. Girls could be the most confounding thing since fat free ramen (flavor free ramen was more like it, yuck!) Still, he had to cut the poor girl a break. The man she loved (loves?) all but announced that he was coming home. Sakura could be as weird as she wanted.

Deciding that it was both time to change the subject and safe to ask questions, Naruto blurted out the first random question that came to mind, "When did you get that note?"

A look of shame shadowed her eyes for a moment, and she murmured something Naruto could barely catch. Three weeks she had that note, and that was about the same amount of time the two of them had spent apart. Sakura then told him everything that happened in detail.

\---

Sasuke had a large bounty on his head in the Fire Country thanks to the handy, dandy Bingo Book. There was nowhere safe for him to be for any extended amount of time in Fire Country, especially Konoha, so he became a master of disguise.

Sasuke had sent Tsunade the first letter barely forged in Jiraiya's handwriting. Being a gambler by heart, Tsunade decided to meet "Jiraiya" at the most run down, dusty bar in Konoha. The tender there was so old that, if Tsunade didn't know any better, she'd say his eyes must have dried into blindness. He obviously couldn't see what he was doing, having served her vodka three times when she clearly asked for sake. Finally getting her sake from the old zombie bastard, she met with the bar's only patron in what was probably years.

Tsunade took a seat across from a scrawny, pale diva with blood red lips, and a dress to match. A long-sleeved dress, a yellow scarf tied on her neck, and black boots that went up her knees. Any troublesome facial hair was conveniently hidden by this outrageous attire. Good thing the dress wasn't a curve hugger, because she had none. She was dreadfully square down there, but made up for the lack of broad hips in her shoulders. Not to mention a monkey could stuff a bra better than her.

Master of disguise my foot. Leave that to Naruto, Saki- _chan_.

"Konoha's security didn't improve that much since I took over, Uchiha "Jiraiya" Saki-san," said Tsunade, so tempted to laugh out loud at what the Uchiha had resorted to for the sake of staying concealed, but she couldn't risk waking the entire village, or even drawing attention from the shriveled old prune at the bar. "You didn't have to got this far."

"It obviously wasn't my idea, prune," said Sasuke, trying and failing to hide his embarrassment. Tsunade wondered whose idea this was, and when she could sign her autograph. She was a little irritated that he tossed her insult about the bar tender back at her, though. Since when could he read minds? The little jerk. He was Orochimaru's former bitch, uh… student all right.

\---

"Wait, wait, hold on a minute Sakura-chan!" said Naruto, crossing his arms over his chest. He looked pale and horrified. "Sasuke was in _drag_?!"

 _No, I just made that part up for my own arousing amusement_ , her inner snapped. Of course Sakura hadn't really made it up… entirely. Sasuke really did meet with Tsunade in disguise one night, and she described his outfit as "outrageous" and nothing more. With that tidbit left to wander the tundra of Sakura's mind (where her awesome inner lived) Sakura's subconscious nibbled on that detail for awhile, and the only thing that came to mind was Sasuke in a dress. So a dress Sasuke's clever disguise was. It was simple logic that was not to be argued with.

"Yes, Naruto, he was. Now let me finish!"

"K, sorry about that," he said, but he really wasn't. He was too busy being torn over whether he wanted to throw up at the thought of Sasuke in a dress, or if he wanted to laugh his ass off. Oh well, that would have to wait.

\---

"So your duty to your clan has been taken care of?" said Tsunade, taking a sip of her sake. Sasuke said nothing, wincing at all the marks his cheep lipstick made on his drinking glass. Tsunade wasn't a stickler for preventing underage drinking, especially those she should technically be ordering her ANBU to kill at that very moment. She counted on the work of her most trusted members to keep quiet about this meeting, and just hoped they came through for her. A lot of the older ANBU tended to be more loyal to the council than to their Hokage, but she made a clear demonstration of what were to happen if word got out about this in the form of a broken tree. Not just any broken tree, but one she personally ripped out of the ground and smashed in half against her knee. When Godaime Hokage meant business, she meant business.

In any case, she didn't get much out of the master of failed disguises. He killed Itachi, but there was more that he had to do. He mentioned three people he recruited to aid him in his goal, and with those same three he planned to do more. If his intentions brought an ounce of harm to Konoha, or any allies with Konoha, Tsunade was prepared to kill him on the spot, even at the risk of losing the respect of her two favorite kids forever. She had done everything she could to that point was to help Naruto and Sakura accomplish their goal faster. It was taking some serious, grueling ass kissing to talk the council out of beheading Sasuke. Hey, so far she helped replace his slow and painful execution to an instant one. Talking them out of execution altogether was going to cost her a lot of pride. Good thing she liked booze.

"Listen," Sasuke said, reaching into the "breast" of his dress. From there he pulled out an old scroll and handed it over to Tsunade. "This is for Sakura. Do not let anyone else set their eyes on this, especially Naruto."

"How do I know this isn't a trap?" said Tsunade, examining the scroll with apprehension. What self-respecting Hokage would fall for the hoax of such a simple gag? He didn't argue when she opened it and read its comments thoroughly, as in forwards twice, backwards once, along the sides, and examining the way the letters were shaped together. All received Tsunade's stamp of approval, except for the blatant message.

"Killing, or bringing any harm to her would benefit me in no way," said Sasuke, in the coldest, most distant voice that he could muster. "I have nothing against the Leaf itself. I simply need to propose something to her in person."

"But you said that you killed him," said Tsunade, pouring herself another glass of sake. "Uchiha Itachi. He was confirmed dead, sliced, diced, and incinerated. There's no way you didn't do that, or that he was a fake."

"I killed Itachi, but my goal isn't complete, and may never be.

"Now I must go."

"Not so fast, _ma'am_. I'm not sure I trust you alone with my prized student. Where do we agree that, if I find so much as a hair out of place on her upon her return, I get to rip all of your organs and feed them to wolves, starting with your _mentula_?"

If that got a frightened twitch out of Sasuke, the world may never know. He was just that good at restraining himself when his pride was on the line. He swore that everything was all good, and that she could feed his _mentula_ to a fricken Orochimaru clone if his intentions were any less than pure. He thought that they knew him better than to play dirty with those he had nothing against, but they obviously didn't know him well enough.

With that said and done, _Saki_ was gone. Probably off to change back into man clothes and spend the night somehow doing a series of badass things to restore his wounded pride. He was probably going to kill the girl on his team for the idea of sticking him in drag. A girl had to have suggested it, and that's all there was to it.

Anyway, the next day Sakura was called into Tsunade's office, and was relayed the entire story. At first Sakura was excited to the point where she was at the door, about to rip it off its hinges and make a mad dash to Naruto's so she could tell him the good news. That was, until Tsunade sprung the "No Naruto" rule on her. Suddenly it went quiet, and Sakura gave her the most incredulous look. "You did read the whole thing, didn't you?"

Sakura looked down at the letter in her hand, having just realized that she only read it about halfway through and skipped to Sasuke's name in the end to make sure she wasn't just imagining it. The second time, though, she recited the whole thing out loud to herself. _"...come alone, and don't tell anyone about this, especially Naruto..."_

 _Naruto._ How in the world could she not tell him? Keeping a secret like this was unforgivable. He was the last person in the world that deserved to be deceived. Of course, telling him risked any chance they had of getting Sasuke back. Would Naruto be able to forgive her if in such a case? Would she be able to forgive herself?

"It'd be best not to tell Naruto," said Tsunade, not liking it anymore than Sakura did; however, she hadn't decided what she was going to do about this just yet. It was just so sudden. Funny how the moment she got over her _love_ love for Sasuke, he decided to come crawling back. She wasn't sure how meeting up with him would affect her emotionally, but she'd do her best to keep the upper hand on them. She would also be the one to decide whether or not Naruto found out about this, and no one else. She just needed time to think.

\---

"And that's everything," said Sakura, relieved that she could finally take a breath. She figured that if she paused very infrequently during her explanation then Naruto wouldn't interrupt her. The least he could do was listen, because she came here and told him the "forbidden truth" against both Tsunade's and Sasuke's wishes. She still, above all else, couldn't shake the fact that she and Naruto had to go in and do this together. The two of them together had to reason with Sasuke, find a way to get him back into Konoha without having criminal charges brought against him for allying with enemies, and become a team again. Kakashi told her that things would go back to the way they always were, and she believed him.

Except for one, glaring detail; she refused to keep secrets from Naruto anymore. Anything Sasuke had to say to her, he could just as easily say to Naruto. She wouldn't face him as Haruno Sakura the pawn, and ever protected female. She would face him as she had become, confident, powerful, worthy, and utterly devoted to Uzumaki Naruto, the boy who didn't betray her in favor of personal desires. She would show Sasuke that, regardless of what he thought and wanted.

She would risk losing him again, and for the first time in her life she realized that it just didn't matter. Whatever Sasuke chose to do with his miserable life, it was out of her hands. She would put her best into convincing him to return, but even words from the Gods themselves wouldn't penetrate the Uchiha's skull if he didn't care to receive them. It was funny how, the longer he was gone, the longer Sakura got to know him based on his words and actions of the past. Beyond being cool and hot, he was very tortured, and very messed up. Sakura still wanted nothing more than to do what she could for him, but not before Naruto. As long as Uchiha was on his half a decade long vacation from Team Seven, he did not hold the same ground in her heart as Naruto.

"Are you going to do it, Sakura-chan?" said Naruto, acknowledging that it was her choice entirely. At the moment, she couldn't have been given a better gift. She knew exactly how she wanted to do this since the moment she read the letter, but it was already the night before Sasuke's next arrival in the Fire Country. She didn't make her decision a moment too soon, and it was the right one to make. Besides, there was no way Sasuke didn't miss Naruto.

"Isn't it obvious?" said Sakura, but of course it wasn't. For all he knew, Sakura would throw herself into Sasuke's arms and the two of them together would walk arm-in-arm out of his life. That was the scariest thought that he had, and there was no way he could bear it if Sakura left him. It was one thing if she and Sasuke came back arm-in-arm. Naruto would at least have his two most important people there.

Another questionable, yet frightening possibility would be Sasuke running his sword through her. That was, his sword sword, the one that kills. Were that to happen, Naruto would still drag Sasuke's sorry butt back to Konoha, only to kill bastard in front of every damned ninja in the village. He highly doubted that would happen, but it was on the list of impossible possibilities all the same.

He hoped it would just turn out the way he wanted it to. Sasuke agrees to come back, Sakura announces that she is over him, and she and Naruto go on another ramen date. He would have to be super lucky for that to happen.

"You're going and not bringing me with you," said Naruto, mocking the hurt he'd feel later because of it. Even if she was a girl, and the girl that he happened to love, she was also a big girl. She could look out for herself. He had a small fear that she'd walk out of his life, but a lot of faith that she'd stay because that's what she did. She was always there, that girl that Naruto was born to adore. He had a slightly bigger fear that Sasuke would try to kill her, and if he actually tried he would succeed. There was no way he could kill Sakura, though. He had continuously put his life on the line to save her back in the day. Why let those sacrifices go to waste?

"But feel free to invite me along if you're feeling rebellious."

Naruto supposed that his biggest fear was him not knowing what was going to happen. He wanted Sakura to be safe, but he wanted to see Sasuke. What kind of danger would his presence put her in? What kind of danger would his lack of presence put her in?

That gamble was on her.

to be continued…


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sasuke speaks his piece, and Sakura has never felt better.

CHAPTER 8

Sakura fantasized over the day she would finally unite with Sasuke and bring him home for years. A girl in love cut down in her prime is not a girl without scorn. If Sakura had to count the hours she had mulled over her failure to protect him, to please him, to mean something to him, she would not be happy to find all the weeks, perhaps even months she had wasted. That was her epiphany, the moment Naruto questioned her drive in their mission

Training with Tsunade over the years was the only part that was not a waste. Regardless of Sasuke's actions, though, Sakura would have eventually sought out a master to draw out her full potential. She was once one of the top dogs in the academy, and missed constant success dearly. Out in the actual ninja world, her teammates excelled to heights she couldn't even begin to dream of. It was intimidating, discouraging, and it didn't do her a bit of good. She kept trying to tell herself that her team was just one that attracted danger beyond their level (what their level should have been, anyway.) Naruto and Sasuke were much tougher than your average genins, and both had goals set in stone, which were the foundations of their success. In order to succeed, she needed to create her own foundation.

Since the day she watched her Sasuke walk out of her life, she no longer wished to assume the role of the weak little girl on the team. Sure, she was no master negotiator, and often acted on what her heart told her in situations that left her befuddled, but she knew how to love. Also, after five years of being under Tsunade's wing, she knew how to kick some serious ass. Those were two qualities in her that she sought to strengthen, so to give her team something to look to. For once, she wanted to be the one admired, not the one admiring.

There was a quality in Naruto that she adored, and that was that he never went back on his word. She, too, was a fan of practicing what she preached, especially now that she could make results with her fist. It was time to get serious about what she actually wanted, and how she wanted to get it.

"Naruto, I think I am feeling a bit rebellious. Let's see Sasuke… together," said Sakura, with not an ounce of hesitation in her voice. He couldn't hide his exuberance with her final decision, and exploded into whoops and cheers like he once did in the old days. It was refreshing to see Naruto let go and be the happy, cheerful boy she had always known. Heck, it was even catching her! He scooped her up by the waist and swung her around in circles, eliciting the fullest laugh Sakura had laughed in so long. Things were finally going to be OK.

It was time to see Sasuke home as a team, no matter how badly he didn't want a "rematch" as he put it. If he wanted to speak to Sakura, then there was nothing he couldn't say in front of Naruto, as well. Sakura was no longer Team 7's lap dog; she wanted things done her way, too. She wanted to keep that bright smile on Naruto's face, and she wanted Naruto to believe in her. She was tired of being weak for Sasuke, because she would rather be strong for Naruto.

"Thanks Sakura-chan. You're the best, greatest person ever," said Naruto, feeling bold enough to crush her against his chest in a bear hug. Sakura returned the gesture with a few pats.

"And don't you forget it," said Sakura, wondering if she was doing the right thing for a second, then pushing it out of her mind. It didn't matter. As long as Naruto was happy, nothing mattered.

\---

The murky light of dusk fell upon the statues of Uchiha Madara and the First, Monday the 2nd where Sasuke had agreed to meet Sakura. Sure enough, Sakura stood on the First's head, watching the golden light of sunset flicker against the flowing water. She wished her anxiety would flow down the fall with the rushing water, but it wasn't like things came easy to her. That sort of thing just didn't exist on Team 7, which suited her just fine. A little challenge never hurt anyone. In fact, it was fun!

The chill in the air was nothing short of merciless. Her teeth were chattering, and it wasn't just the nerves doing it. Sasuke was taking too long to show up, and her patience was really wearing thin. He couldn't be fashionably late to the meeting he himself had conducted, the stupid bastard. That was the last bad habit he needed to inherit from Kakashi.

As if he'd plucked that right from her mind, Sasuke lent over behind her and whispered into her ear, "Sorry I'm late. I know this was not the time we had agreed on. That is, Sakura and I.

"Show yourself, Naruto." It was like venom seeping into his ear, and when Sasuke had the long blade pressed into "Sakura's" thin neck, the shadow clone disappeared into a fit of smoke. From there, the real Sakura and Naruto hopped from the trees as a unit, each leaving no opening for a direct attack, and each in a position to guard the other. Team 7 was stripped to a two man unit, which on the outside appeared to be doing perfectly fine without Sasuke. That alone tempted him to up and leave them, as though they were nothing more than gnats.

This was absolutely true, when Sasuke gave it some thought. Neither Sakura, nor Naruto played any pivotal role in his destiny, none whatsoever. They were only anchors that held him down, but he was the last remaining Uchiha. He was born to sail free of the shackles of bonds.

It was easier said than done, too. Even now, he bothered to come and tell them to leave him alone for the very last time. Rather, he came to tell Sakura, because she was the weak one. He had influence over her, whereas Naruto? The guy was a loose cannon, so much so that he'd fight to the death just to get his way. He very nearly died by Sasuke's hand the last time they had here, even. His tenacity and complete disregard for Sasuke's ambitions were the reasons why Sasuke did not desire an audience with him.

But Sakura brought him anyway. The one person in Konoha Sasuke thought he could rely on now grew a mind of her own. He specifically said no Naruto, but there Naruto stood, plain as day and scowling at him as though he had just killed a puppy. That guy was just asking to get pummeled.

"Why did you go against my peripherals, Sakura? I have half a mind to kill you for bringing him here," said Sasuke, giving Naruto a black stare of contempt and disassociation. The other boy went stiff with disbelief and disgust, and as his body tightened into the thousands of punches he wanted to shoot into the pretty boy's face, Sakura put a hand on his shoulder just so he was aware that someone else was there with him.

"Naruto and I are in this together, always.

"Besides, I don't trust you," said Sakura. It came out as simple as that, and she felt as if her chest had just unloaded the weight of a country. She wasn't so sure they had come out of her own mouth, or her inner's. The Sasuke that she loved died five years ago. She was silly enough to have a crush on the boy who threw away birthday sweets she put her heart into, ignored her pleas for attention, and called her "annoying" with little regard for her feelings (though she had to admit, she was asking for that one.) She was vain enough to fall in love with the boy who protected her from harm constantly, stuck with her through danger and hardships on the battlefield, but otherwise ignored and disregarded her.

However, she was not stupid enough to trust what Sasuke had become. She certainly wasn't going to comply with any of his "peripherals" over her own, and even over Naruto's. She brought Naruto with her because it was what she said they would do all along. If they did not bring Sasuke back together, then they wouldn't bring him back at all. That was just the way it was.

"You don't trust me," said Sasuke, his voice devoid of a single emotion. How predictable, said Sakura's inner. All ass and no excitement, such a waste! It took this once to face him, to finally be in the same vicinity as him to finally get the storm of feelings that raged through her. She hung on to the old memory of Sasuke like an achievable dream. Her Sasuke was long dead, unfortunately. She'd talk Tsunade into adding his name to the list of the lost and gone forever.

"That's right, I don't. I also don't like you, nor do I respect you. The only thing I love about you anymore is the memory of you. Of how things used to be.

"I don't know what it's going to take to make things as they once were. Come home, and we can try again. Leave one more time, and I'll even leave my fondest memories of you to rest."

"Sakura!" said Naruto, dumbfounded by her words. Just yesterday she wanted nothing more than to restore the order of Team 7. Right now, she was pushing him away, encouraging him to be gone. Watching Sasuke walk out of his life once again, and probably for the last time, would probably be… honestly, Naruto didn't even know what to think anymore. Sasuke meant more to him than almost anyone, perhaps even Sakura.

He used to, anyway. He had been so used to succeeding, and finding ways to get to the point he needed to. Sasuke was a stepping stone on the road to becoming Hokage, and always had been. There was only one thing left to do, if Sakura was done making her peace with him.

"Bastard, you really want to break our bonds? Over my dead body."

Before Sakura could utter a word of protest, Naruto had a Rasengan fired up in his had, and Sasuke had his sword unsheathed. There was really only one way men could settle affairs of the heart. One of them would have to die, again.

The last time Naruto and Sasuke got into a fight, Sakura ran in between them in a blind attempt to end the fight. It was a gamble that very nearly ended her life. That was back when she was weak, and physically powerless to stop them.

But that was then, and this is now. Before Naruto and Sasuke could strike their first blows against one another, Sakura pumped as much chakra into her legs as possible and shot herself from the cliff at lightning speed. Once she was directly between them, she grabbed hold of their wrists and tossed them into the river. This fight didn't work the first time, and it wasn't going to work again. She refused to be a spectator at a pointless sport.

She landed in a sloppy heap on Madara's statue, picking herself up just in time to see Naruto and Sasuke emerge from the water. They looked as though they were preparing to fight again, so Sakura shouted to them, "It would take one chakra infused finger nail of mine to castrate the both of you if you so much as attempt to attack each other again. Don't you dare tempt me!"

Neither were inclined to disagree with her, and decided to join her on Madara's statue in peace. As they headed up, Sakura was doing her best to will the blush on her face away. She couldn't believe what had just come out of her mouth. Her inner was really having a field day with these two knuckleheads. In all seriousness, though, she would have to keep them from tearing each other apart by any means necessary.

"What the hell, Sakura-chan!?" said Naruto, trying to smack the last of the water out of his ear. Sasuke said nothing, but clearly he was thinking the same thing. Boys were imbeciles! That's all there was to it. If they weren't too busy thinking with the wrong head, then they were too busy thinking with their fists. How she got along with these two throughout the years, and even managed to fall for them both at one point or another, was beyond her.

She was sorely tempted to bash their heads together as hard as she could and make them listen. "I'll tell you, no fighting! I don't want to see it. It didn't work the first eight-thousand times and it won't work now. Do I make myself clear?" said Sakura, her voice dangerous enough to scare away a bull the size of a mountain. Naruto nodded, and Sasuke grunted, both agreeing to a temporary truce now that they knew that plunging at one another was pointless. Sure, if they did it enough times Sakura would run out of the chakra she needed to stop them, but the drive to fight one another would be gone, since they'd share a victory in defeating her. Naruto would just have to get Sasuke in his sleep, or in the shower, or something.

"All right, Sakura-chan. But I'm blaming you if I catch cold," said Naruto, stripping himself of his sopping wet jacket. She took a moment to admire (or eye hump, as her inner insisted) the way his muscles clung to the wet, black mesh, but caught herself in an instant and snapped out of it. This wasn't about Naruto at all. If anything she should have admired how gorgeous Sasuke had become, though he truly did need to ditch that purple bow holding up his pants. Fashion disaster aside, he was all right. Same old Sasuke, really, except taller.

Again, she caught herself. This wasn't about comparing cute boys in the slightest. It was about trying to drag one cute boy's ass home to please the other. Wait, that sounded wrong. Wasn't Naruto trying to bring Sasuke home to please her?

The next lewd comment from Sakura's inner would earn her head a good punch.

"Sakura," said Sasuke, finally wanting to get down to business. Sakura was all for business now, having she fair share of lewd thoughts for one day.

"Right," said Sakura, all ears and ready to get this, whatever this was, over with. It was already dark, and the road home was always a more dangerous one at night. Better to brave it sooner than later, not to mention she was already exhausted. It took more out of her to stop them than she thought.

Sasuke told them of his journey for power, starting with being taught every little thing Orochimaru knew. His Sharingan recorded an innumerable amount of techniques, and his practice with mastering the cursed seal had been quite intense. He had milked Orochimaru of all his worth, then killed him. That part made Naruto happy. After all, Orochimaru was a no good waste of space, and the world could certainly do without some of those.

Then they were told in brief of his new team, Suigetsu, Karin, and Juugo, and that he planned to keep them around longer to help him with some more crucial objectives to his destiny. Naruto and Sakura both wanted to ask why they couldn't be the ones to help, but neither of them knew the words to ask him. They just sat back and let him finish.

"So you finally killed off your bastard brother," said Naruto, his toothy grin being magnified in the brilliant moonlight that now dominated the sky. "Good for you, man."

Sasuke didn't smile, but Sakura knew it was there somewhere inside of him. She, too, was glad to hear the news that his heaviest burden was now alleviated. That Itachi had it coming, too. All the guys in Akatsuki did.

"I'd like to meet your team sometime, if that's OK with you," said Sakura, and Sasuke just shrugged. She was especially curious about Karin, knowing that any female who attracted Sasuke's eye must really be something. Not that Sakura was jealous or anything, just nosy.

"When are you coming back to Konoha?" said Naruto. It was known amongst the three of them that now was not the time to have him back. The old farts in the council had to lighten up, and if they had a chance to hear Sasuke's story then they would know his intentions weren't to betray, but to protect. Well, protecting Konoha was not what Sasuke wanted, nor cared about; however, as a result a major enemy of the village was lost in Orochimaru. Sandaime's death had been avenged, and that was one less (major) problem the village had to worry about. That and the Uchiha clan was a great one. It wasn't the happiest clan, nor was it crucial, but it was worth a great deal of value. The Uchiha clan had a lot of history in Konoha, both good and bad. Sasuke could bring great honor and pride to both his clan and his village, but he had to prove himself worthy of forgiveness. For that, he wasn't ready, so he didn't have an answer to Naruto's question.

"I must go. This has already taken longer than it should have," said Sasuke, brushing the weeds off his pants. "I have never forgotten that the three of us, Team 7…

"It has no pivotal role in my current destiny, I'm afraid. But it is the one external thing I hold on to. I have never been able to successfully deny that, if that makes you happy. We'll all meet again, once I'm done tying up a few loose ends."

"Of course," said Sakura, and she could feel the tears prickling in the back of her eyes already. "Thank you for coming, at least. You haven't stopped being on our minds since the day you left."

"All right, you jerk. Get out of here, but promise you'll come back before I'm too old and gray to kick your ass, got it?" said Naruto, sounding just as close to tears as she was, and something else. He was glad. They no longer had to force Sasuke to come home, but he would come of his own free will. Sure, she didn't really trust him, but something told her that this was the real deal.

"Sure, but I'll be the one kicking your ass, dobe," said Sasuke, and there was an actual smile on his face. It was a very small one, as if his face had been chiseled into a cold exterior that had been frozen that way for many years. Somehow, Naruto knew how to melt the ice in Sasuke's heart little by little. Sakura was almost envious, but then again it was Naruto who knew how to change people, not her.

In no time Sasuke disappeared into the night, and Sakura felt lighter than she ever had in a long, long time. She was a little disappointed that Sasuke didn't come back with them, but he really couldn't. Naruto and Sakura couldn't betray their village by following the traitor into the night, so the only option they did have was to wait, and to use the memory of this night to comfort them. He was all right, and he hadn't forgotten about them. Sakura's bed was going to be begging her to get a good night's sleep once she got home.

Naruto continued to stare along the horizon, wondering just how far Sasuke was this time, but was smiling. His greatest rival and best friend had gifted him with the promise of his safe and timely return. He was positive that, once he became Hokage, Sasuke would be back with them. That is what it would take, because unlike Tsunade Naruto was willing to fight tooth and nail around the clock to get Sasuke back with a clean slate.

He had never felt so inspired. In fact, first thing in the morning he'd train on the brink of death to become the most powerful ninja Konoha has ever known. Then no one would dare to argue with him when he insisted that Sasuke be his right hand man. Things were going to be all right.

"Sakura-chan, thank you for bringing me," said Naruto, and he had dared again to wrap his arms around her. Then Sakura had dared again to just let this be, even if he was still wet. After all, she was no longer tainting Naruto's love for her with thoughts of Sasuke. Sasuke was now their symbol for happiness and hope, and she now had faith in where her heart took her, rather than fear of it.

"We couldn't have done this any other way, Naruto," she said, resting her check against his warm shoulder. "I'm sure Sasuke wouldn't have wanted it any other way, either."

to be continued…


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To actually have him there, doing what she had thought so much about, and feared so much, felt so right. She was right to just let it be.

CHAPTER 9

The walk back through the forest was tough to brave during the night. Low visibility and disorientation are only a ninja's friend when they are in a ninja's favor. For Naruto and Sakura, they were in no great hurry to return to Konoha. Sure, Sakura missed her bed, and Naruto wanted to hit the training grounds as soon as possible, but they knew better. They could walk right into death if they braved a dark forest at night, which wasn't worth it unless their presence in Konoha was urgent.

In the first clearing, the two of them set up camp. Sakura pitched the tent and made the fire, while Naruto set the traps and made very colorful threats toward any enemy who might be lurking about. He tossed most of his damp clothes to the ground, and Sakura placed them on a branch to dry. It was becoming pretty cold, so she hoped he'd be all right. At least they had thought to bring overnight supplies, save a spare pair of clothes since they had to keep their supplies at a minimum. Naruto didn't want to at first, but when Sakura laid down the law about something, he was not inclined to argue. After all, she could kill him.

Once they were all set for the evening, Naruto swung down from the trees and rubbed his arms. She almost felt bad for tossing him into the river, but she did tell him before they set out not to challenge Sasuke. He ignored her request, and thus got what he deserved for it. There was nothing he could say or do to talk her into cuddling, or anything of the sort. Nope, he needed to suffer.

When he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, she shoved him off, not liking the chill that followed one little bit. She was tempted to punch him through a few trees because of that, but thought better of it, not to mention she was physically exhausted. Before the reunion with Sasuke, she had to work Kei-chan's hours at the clinic, and they were swamped. A new line of genins joined the ninja world recently in the Leaf, and those kids all had some pretty interesting meetings with pain. The one who couldn't pull the chakra-infused trap off his butt for the life of him was a real gas. She hadn't had that much fun since the time she had a sword run through her.

The temperature was getting unreasonably brisk, so she wrapped her sleeping bag around her. Naruto set a pot of boiling water over the fire, wanting some cup ramen, and put in enough for her as well. She decided to fix herself a cup of tea to flush the cold out of her system. It worked wonders for awhile, until an unexpected breeze had swept through her sleeping bag.

"Damn it," Naruto grumbled, pawing his damp jacket and mesh shirt. "These stupid things are going to be wet all night."

Sakura opened her mouth to chastise him further on having challenged Sasuke, but she was feeling the cold even beneath her cover, so she couldn't imagine what he felt bare-chested. Not to mention his pants were still damp. At this rate the poor guy was susceptible to getting pneumonia. Old Nine Tails was great at healing wounds, but did he do anything about illness? She didn't want to find out.

"Um, Naruto?" said Sakura, cheeks suddenly ready to explode into flame. The better part of her brain was blaring like warning alarm, and her inner was telling her to quit being a pussy and be a grown woman. The problem was, both warning were correct, and she didn't know how to deal with a contradictory alliance inside her mind.

"Yeah Sakura?" said Naruto, giving her this strange look as though she had two heads, which was exactly the problem. She wanted to suggest that he, well, ditch the bottom half of his wet clothes for the evening as he slept. In the tent. With her. The problem was, sleeping in the vicinity of a naked Naruto was just a little odd. Scratch that, illegal! She couldn't possibly live that situation down.

If he was sick and bed bound as a result of her actions, though, she also would not be able to live with that. It was the medical ninja and the human being in her that wanted to prevent her teammate and best friend from meeting such a fate.

So basically, sleep by a naked Naruto and she feels awkward as a result, or she sleeps with a cold, wet Naruto and risks getting him sick, resulting in them both feeling bad. Bad as he deserved to feel for being an idiot, he didn't deserve to feel quite that bad. She may have been abusive, but she wasn't cruel.

"You might want to err…" she started, and then bit her tongue, refusing to let it go tied. Her inner was not helping, by chanting _strip, strip, strip!_ What had she done to deserve cruelty of this caliber? "… just…"

"Are you feeling OK, Sakura? You're acting all weird."

 _Strip, strip, strip!_ Sakura couldn't take it. She covered her face in her hands and screamed. This was simply maddening. She was two seconds away from tearing out all of her hair in frustration. There was nothing perverted about her intentions whatsoever, ignoring that warm little tingle between her legs and all. It was her job as a woman of pride and dignity to make a man earn those goods, and Naruto certainly wasn't even entitled to a bit of body warmth, let alone… she wasn't going to go there. Not a chance in hell.

"Granted you don't lay another finger on me tonight," said Sakura, just before Naruto could get his hands on her shoulders to calm her down. He backed off quickly and turned his listening ears toward her. "I want you to lose your pa… the bottom half of your attire before you crawl into bed tonight. Don't… want you to get ill or anything."

She could see the lewd comment boiling in his eyes, she really could, and not just because her inner was siding with his thoughts. Lucky for him he kept that devious tongue of his bit, or else her fist would be halfway through his skull at the moment. There was going to be a naked boy in her personal bubble that evening. Sleep? Not likely. Death? Only if she died of embarrassment, or if he so much as breathed funny in her direction. Maybe both would happen, and then they'd meet in heaven and she'd kick his sorry ass for all of eternity.

The thought of spending all of eternity with Naruto ended the mean thought pattern right there. How could one boy make her feel such a wide range of emotions? He made her feel a little bit of everything, didn't he? Never a dull moment with Uzumaki Naruto, that was for sure.

"I'm going to sleep. Please… sleep dry, and don't touch me if you do, and even if you don't," said Sakura with a yawn. Her only chance at sleep was if she fell fast asleep before he got in. That was what she was going for, and he seemed to understand. He was good for that sometimes. "Good night."

"'Night, Sakura-chan," said Naruto, trying to draw whatever warmth the feeble flame gave him. She knew that she had done the right thing, and hoped that he would as well, despite how awkward it would be. Some sacrifices were worth making, no matter how low her sanity was at the moment.

As she buried herself into her sleeping bag, getting no satisfactory warmth out of it at all, she concentrated hard on her breathing. She could not allow herself to be bombarded with thoughts of Sasuke, because then she would never get to sleep. Similarly, being bombarded with thoughts of Naruto was no better. No, thoughts of being buried in his taut chest, with his warm breath tumbling over her pink locks were forbidden. His hands brushing circles tight and wide over the small of her back, fingers snaked down the hem of her skirt as he gave her rump a thorough examination. His lips burning crazy trails along the outline of her jaw and collar bone. He was so good; she started whispering his name, then uttering his name, then moaning it.

The first moan caught his attention, much to her chagrin. He was halfway in the tent, peering over at the sleeping bag she was now trying to hide herself in. OK, him sleeping in their tent naked with no touching? Nothing, nothing compared to him catching her…fantasizing about him. Unfortunately for her, he wasn't all that stupid.

"What's wrong, Sakura-chan? Are you feeling sick?" Rather, fortunately, because he considered all of the options, and not just the perverted one. All she had to do was pretend she had to go hurl in the woods and that would cover that embarrassing little slip up.

She didn't have the energy, or the will to drag herself out of the tent, even if she genuinely did feel queasy. She liked where she was, hiding from his eyes and pretending she was going to disappear any moment. There was no holding her accountable for her actions if she looked up at him. She would either punch him halfway to Sunagakure, despite the fact that he didn't even deserve it, or she would hop into his arms and wouldn't let him go until they had mind-boggling sex all the way until dawn. They couldn't do that, though, because they weren't officially… that is to say, they hadn't tied the… too early to…

Where were all of these standards coming from? What could she do to get every single voice in her to SHUTTHEFUCKUP so she could do something, the right thing, the wrong thing, the stupid thing, the smart thing, or all of them, without any regrets?

"Come here please," said Sakura, sounding way too miserable. What she wouldn't give just to tune out all of the combating voices in her head for even a few seconds. She wanted some peace, comfort, and company. If every conscious piece of her was going to be mean and eat her sanity, then she would just do exactly what she felt she wanted. Screw what Naruto "deserved" or whatever. There was no one out there to judge her but herself, because Naruto never did judge her. He just loved her unconditionally.

That was precisely why she needed him.

"I packed an extra pair of boxers, so I won't be completely nude tonight…"

"I don't care about that," said Sakura, angry with the way her body chose to cleanse itself of every difficult emotion she felt. She let him crawl into her sleeping bag, and cried a little. She thought a dam had broken, but it was just a few frustrated trickles. Naruto didn't try anything funny; he just tucked her hair behind her ears and let her take her frustrations out on him. Anything was better than letting her bottle up all of her emotions. One of the things Naruto did admire about Sakura was, in fact, that she cried. Not a lot of girls her age did that anymore, which was a sign of weakness if he ever saw any. Hiding from what you really felt never did a damn bit of good. This way she could just feel what she felt and be over it in the morning.

He was glad that she turned to him for comfort, too. Now he was considered part of her, a part that wouldn't try to judge or asses her actions. What she did was what she did, and as long as she wasn't (undeservedly) hurting anyone, then who was he to argue? He didn't love the girl he loved based on what he thought she should be, but because she was real. She was passionate, bold, fun, and nice where it counted, and she was lying in his arms as he pondered all the reasons why she was just the perfect girl. The perfect one to fit him anyway.

Well, almost perfect. She had to make it clear that she wanted him the same way he wanted her. He loved her enough at this point to drag her off to the nearest temple and stick an Uzumaki before her name, but only if she wanted it. Everything here was based on what she felt and what she wanted, and whatever that was he would be there with her.

Though, admittedly, it was a bit startling to find her lips so close to his that he could feel the heat and moisture rising up off of them. He tested the waters, sweeping his lips across hers like a breeze to make it seem like an accident if her proximity wasn't conscious; however, he was pleased to find that it was very much conscious. He could have died happy in her arms as she pressed her cute lips against his. Of course he returned the gesture, while cupping her cheek and playing with the wayward strands of her hair. He must have been the only boy in Konoha that only saw beauty in the color pink, particularly if it was on Sakura's head, which smelled like some pretty shampoo. He had no other way to describe her looks, smell, and even kiss other than pretty.

In fact, she could pass for the world's most beautiful girl in his eyes at this point. There was room for no other girl in them.

When they broke the kiss, Naruto had to pull back in, just to make sure he hadn't imagined it. This was Sakura, pressed against his body which was practically naked, and would be if he hadn't thought to bring spare boxers (never know when you're going to need them.) His pretty Sakura-chan was kissing him back. She wasn't punching him, yelling at him, struggling to get away, or anything. Hell, she started it! Screw heaven, this was even better.

"Sakura, you're…"

"Naruto, shut up and hold me."

Well, he had his whole life to tell her she was pretty, and that she was the best girl in the world. If they kept at this for awhile, he may disregard any boundaries and caution whatsoever and admit out loud that he loved her. She knew, and had always known. Hearing it said was different, though.

"I've got to put the fire out. Give me a sec," said Naruto, but he didn't vacate the tent without giving her a nice, big kiss on the forehead. He always knew she had a kissable head, and that just proved it. She was cute enough to make him explode with glee.

Unless he wanted to barbeque their asses to death, though, he had to put the fire outside out, and it took longer than he thought to find a source of water in which to do so. Once he was back in the tent, though, Sakura was sleeping comfortably with her face turned toward the wall of the tent. She must have been tired, because he could hear light snores coming from her already.

So he nuzzled comfortably on his side of the tent, still tingly and giddy over the kissing and the cuddling. He knew he would dream happy things.

"Sweet dreams, Sakura."

\---

Sakura awoke the following morning to the most wicked headache, which she connectedto all the blood that swirled through her head most of the night, and the crying. Not that it was a particularly tearful cry, but her brows were scrunched close together, so close they could have grown into each other. Speaking of which, she needed to pluck them badly. She also needed to shave her legs, take a bath, and eat chocolate bar. Maybe two chocolate bars. Hell, maybe she'd kidnap Ino and demand they had a one-on-one about her complicated life over parfaits. Ino would tell her she was on (another) diet, and Sakura would tell her the ribs were so last season, and please oh please don't let me binge on sweets by myself. That's what friends were for.

The morning was slow, first in that she didn't want to wake Naruto, who was sleeping peacefully. She smiled down at him as she sat up, and reached over to touch him, though she thought better of it. There she goes, thinking "better" again, when really she was putting herself through an unnecessary ordeal. She couldn't deny what she felt for a second.

One, Naruto was an unbelievably good kisser, and this was mouth closed, all right. His lips were a comfortable fit against hers, if a little wide, which she didn't mind one bit. That was one part of herself she never knew existed. Another part of her didn't know she'd like having her hair played with, or her ears tickled with feather light touches. The best part was him kissing her on the forehead. If only he were awake and could do it again, maybe her headache would magically disappear. She seriously wondered if that would work.

Still, he looked so peaceful that she just couldn't. Why hadn't she noticed sooner just how handsome he was? It was completely different from Sasuke, though, perhaps even the direct opposite. In Sasuke she saw a boy in darkness whose heart she could light with her love. In Naruto she saw a boy in light that could illuminate her heart even more, and lift her beyond the clouds. She had spent the years of her life since befriending Ino healing her heart, and rising above the poor image of herself she clung to. She spent years building her strength, her fervor, and her love for her team. She also learned to love herself in the process, which was the key to being acknowledged by others. She hoped this would attract Sasuke.

Instead it attracted Naruto, in such a way that he no longer was the bonehead the merely sought to get on her nerves. At least, she no longer saw him that way. Sure, he said and did dumb things. That's just what boys did (OK, and so did girls… just not as much.) Now that she had matured, he had as well. He had matured so much that she found herself in awe by him, and then found herself admiring him, aspiring to be like him.

Then somewhere along the line, she wanted so much to be with him. That night a month ago, when he asked if he could kiss her, was what put a foot in that strange door. The one inside that she had closed, locked, and barricaded from him her whole life. Still, Naruto was just that kind of guy who wouldn't let anything get between him and what he wanted. He must have really wanted her, if he finally learned which buttons of hers to push.

Those feelings must have power that would make the Kyuubi itself curl into a timid little ball, because her opinion on Sasuke was wiped clean and rewritten. She thought she could wait out his "revenge" and earn his love through perseverance and dedication. Once he saw how strong and beautiful she was, he would have been on his knees begging for her to take him. That was the initial plan, but Naruto got inside, fought, and won. Thanks to that, she wasn't overwhelmed during their reunion with Sasuke. In fact, she was able to learn feelings she never knew she had, like the fact that she didn't trust him, and the fact that he just wasn't all that gorgeous anymore. Besides, a lover who is always miserable can't possibly be very affectionate, considerate, or interesting.

She was won when Naruto's lips brushed against hers. He was so warm, welcoming, and just felt nice. To actually have him there, doing what she had thought so much about, and feared so much, felt so right. She was right to just let it be. For the millionth time that night she was right. It was fun to always be right, she decided.

Once he showed signs of stirring awake, Sakura slipped out of the tent to have some lady time, and maybe find a source of water she could splash into her face. While she was at it, she took a swig of water from her canteen, hoping that would make her headache melt away. Not on her life. Where were Naruto's lips when she needed them?

"Hey, Sakura, where'd you go?" Naruto called out, and Sakura told him to give her a few. She ran toward flowing water at the valley, and though it wasn't safe for drinking, it was refreshing to splash against her face. It would take them a couple hours to get back to Konoha at top speed, which suited her just fine. She wouldn't even mind a detour or two, if Naruto was feeling affectionate, and her morning breath went away. Why didn't she remember to pack toothpaste?

"'Morning, beautiful," said Naruto, approaching her fully dressed and happy as a lamb. Her clothes and hair were a mess, she hadn't bathed in over 48 hours, her breath was atrocious, and she had a killer headache which irritated the shit out of her, and he considered her beautiful. Something about this relationship worked. It just did.

No vulgar remarks from her inner would leave her unnerved, nor would the chastising prude in her screaming like a banshee. Nope, her thoughts got her nowhere, so she just wasn't going to think about this anymore. She was just going to let it be. If it seemed right, and it felt right, could it possibly be wrong? Only if it were some twisted genjutsu, but she was good at evading things like that.

"Good morning, Naruto."

to be continued…


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Naruto, it's a beautiful day. Do you have any special plans?" Sakura asked, and there went Naruto's mind, reduced to a pile of gook.

CHAPTER 10

"'Morning, old man!" said Naruto, entering Ichiraku Ramen with more spring to his step than normal. Usually the smell of ramen and the cheerful greetings from the two vendors put him in high spirits for the day, but this particular day he was flying sky high. He would have a smile on his face even if his pants fell down and a dog bit his ass cheek. The sun was bright, the weather was just right, and Naruto was ready to have an awesome day.

He didn't dare speak what was on his mind, or in his heart at the moment in fear that it was too good to be true. Also, though they hadn't discussed it, he knew Sakura would probably want to get used to the idea that they were on a kissing and hugging basis before he went around blabbering his good fortune to the entire village. He was content to wait as long as it took before Sakura was willing to make show of her feelings for him to the world. That would be another truly great day in his life to add to the short list of them. In the mean time, he'd just let the village believe that he was insane with the grin that couldn't fall.

He inhaled his ramen as though it were a breath of fresh air, and went through nine or so bowls before he was stuffed and ready to start a new day. It was still early, so the training fields weren't likely to be occupied. He had a lot of work to do if he was going to throw Hagatha off the throne and take her seat as Hokage. Somehow, he thought Tsunade would appreciate that. She always did say that the paper work would be the death of her. When Naruto became Hokage, he was going to hire someone else to do his work for him so he could go kick some ass for his village.

But in order to kick some ass, he'd have to become the strongest ninja in the village. Heck, the strongest ninja in the world. He couldn't be anything less than the best, not for his village, and not for Sakura.

"Yosh, there isn't a second to lose," he said, pumping his fist and turning toward the training grounds. He was about to make a mad sprint for them, but the most beautiful voice in the world interrupted him.

"Naruto, there you are. I've been looking all over the place for you," said Sakura, knocking Naruto off his feet, literally. A mad sprint starts with the first step, and when she suddenly called his name one foot wasn't enough to support him. Wonderful way to embarrass himself in front of his girl, but he was used to it. He grinned and chuckled nervously. It was strange having her around, but strange in a good way. He could get used to this.

"Hi, Sakura. Nice… um, hi," said Naruto, wondering where all the pesky butterflies in his gut were coming from. There wasn't anything different about her. His Sakura had always been the prettiest girl in the world to him. She never failed to make him smile, or make him feel warm in her presence. Most of all, she never knocked him off his feet quite like this, without using her fists that is. OK, so maybe this concept of him maybe being her boyfriend was not sinking in quite like it should have been.

He just needed to take a deep breath, chill out, and get the hell off the filthy ground before an ant crawled into his underwear, or something. "OK!" He sprung right up off the ground, scratched the back of his head, and sighed. "Let's try that again. Hello, Sakura."

"Are you feeling all right?" she said, placing her hand against his forehead. His heart began throb against his chest, as though it were a time bomb preparing to explode. It was weird, how yesterday in the forest he had no problem being around her on the way back home. They didn't speak much, and if they did they discussed how they were going to explain the Sasuke situation. They were so filled with emotion over their lost friend whom they desperately wanted back home without the risk of his death. Most of their thoughts and feelings flittered back to Sasuke, and they couldn't find the time to discuss where their relationship was going to go since the night in the tent. Naruto was horribly confused.

Even worse, he was afraid of her rejection. He wanted this to be what he had always dreamed. He wanted to take Sakura into his arms and love her the best that he could. What's more, he wanted her to feel that love. In any way it could he wanted that love to put a smile on her face and keep it there. He felt that there was no man in the world more capable of being what she deserved than him. She didn't deserve to be pushed into anything, though. If she felt half as strong for him as he had for her, she would be the one to decide where they took this whole new turn into this relationship. She had said that she didn't like or trust Sasuke, but could she really be over him? It was weird to even think it.

As she continued to assess his face for any sign of illness, Naruto's hand cupped hers against his cheek. When she didn't move, or show any signs of disapproval, he dove right in and gave her a kiss so wrought with weird emotion that his heart wouldn't be his only internal organ to explode over this. She was so pretty, so kind, and so possibly his.

Just as he kissed her, he remembered that the two of them were in public. There could be several pairs of eyes observing this little scene, so Naruto backed off and let her hand go. "Sorry, couldn't help it."

She didn't look ready to kill, so he assumed she was OK with being kissed. He really did hope so, because she had the softest, pinkest little lips that brought out the pink in her cheeks. He couldn't help loving the way she looked. She just seemed so flawless to him, the perfect fit, and the perfect eye candy. This little package had so much to offer. She didn't even know.

"I guess you're still getting used to the idea, too," said Sakura, her gaze everywhere but on Naruto, but her smile betrayed her awkwardness. She was in the same boat as him, and if they were standing any closer they could hear each other's erratic heart beats. Naruto grinned and blushed for a bit, but somehow gathered the courage to say a few things he had to unscramble from his mind.

"Believe me, I can get used to kissing the best girl ever," said Naruto, thumbs up and everything. Her eyes glowed, though she tried to make it seem like it was no big thing. It was just like Naruto to be a little corny, but then again the romantic in Sakura couldn't help but eat those types of compliments up. When she caught herself with nothing to say, she rolled her eyes and threw her hands behind her back in a ditch effort to not hang all over him. The relationship was in an experimental stage. No need to fan the flame before it could withstand it.

"Naruto, it's a beautiful day. Do you have any special plans?" Sakura asked, and there went Naruto's mind, reduced to a pile of gook. He could barely remember what his name was at the moment, let alone think of where he supposedly needed to be. Let's see, he was about to run west, and that way; pubs; Jounin and ANBU apartment complexes; more pubs; Extended Training Ground B-that rang a bell. He planed to train in the widest training ground with 500 shadow clones, and he was going to perfect his Rasengan in due time. He was going to become Hokage so he could scratch his friend's name out of the Bingo Book and bring him home, then appoint him as his right-hand man as punishment for his crimes. Sasuke as his paperwork bitch, Naruto didn't mind that possibility one bit.

He could train any old day, and he was sure Sakura would do the same. She already mastered the art of being a mini-Tsunade, much to Naruto's chagrin. As long as she never grew her boobs out to be the size of her head, he'd be cool with that. There was no way that was natural.

In any case, rather than patiently waiting for his answer she was starting to stare at him funny. "Training! If I'm going to kick several shades of ass then there's no time to start like the present," said Naruto, his fist pumped in the air as he laughed a determined laugh. He was just like a big kid, minus the complete idiot he made himself out to be when they were still just genin. It was endearing, not to mention an inspiration.

"Let's make it a training date," said Sakura, pumping her fist up now. "I'll take you on."

"Is that a challenge? You know I won't hold back, no matter how much I… how cute you are," said Naruto, so caught in the heat of his determination that he almost said the dangerous L-word. Naruto may not have known much about being a good boyfriend, but he knew that word could make or break the two of them, so he had to keep it to himself until he was ready to say it. It didn't help that he'd felt that way about her for years, but now that she was with him, it was hard to hold anything back anymore. A strip of pink heat crawled across his nose once again, and he tried to shake it off to no avail. Sakura just had that affect on him.

"Well quit standing around like an idiot and move it. No time like the present, right," said Sakura, and she sprinted toward the training ground faster than he could blink. So she was going to play this game with him, was she?

"Kage bushin no jutsu," yelled Naruto, and he and fifteen other clones barreled down the street like a herd of angry bulls. For those in Konoha who were still asleep, they were no longer. One lady even threw and old shoe at one of the clones, causing him to disperse in a cloud of smoke. It didn't matter, though, because if even one Naruto caught up with Sakura then all would be well. It wasn't such a bad warm up, either.

As they approached the training grounds, a third (sixteenth?) party joined the onslaught of clones and a laughing Sakura. A green blur was sprinting beside the Naruto in front, and that's when he knew things were going to get interesting. "Naruto-kun, hello. I could not help but be drawn by your method of speed training, allow me to test my speed against yours," said Lee, suddenly dashing well ahead of Sakura and out of sight. Well, that was strange. Tasting Lee's dust wasn't something Naruto was going to take lightly. As if the future Hokage could lose to that bushy-browed weirdo.

Naruto summoned fifteen more clones, half of which barreled on past Sakura. Each one that did grinned happily and waved at her, and one even blew a kiss. The kiss turned her brows into twitching slopes, and her inner roared with rage and beat her chest.

"ALL RIGHT, DAMN IT!" said Sakura, pumping great waves of her chakra into each of her legs, so each step she made left a mini foot-shaped crater behind. She was soon dead even with the Naruto in front, and could easily catch up to Lee at this rate, assuming he was on his way to Training Ground B. Knowing him, he probably wouldn't stop until he was halfway to Sunagakure, or something. These were the kinds of freaks Sakura attracted.

She loved her freaks, though, not that she would ever admit that out loud or anything. Speaking of Lee, assuming he still had a thing for her, she'd have to explain to him that, well, Naruto finally won. He won over Sasuke of all people, and that was saying something. Rolling the concept of Naruto's victory around in her head was a little unnerving, but that's why she didn't. She didn't want to think today, she just wanted to be.

As she shook the onslaught of unwanted thoughts from her head, a few shadow clones slipped by her. Once they stopped at the training ground, Sakura slammed right against one of them, and was thrown back into another one from behind who caught her. As one Naruto disappeared they all did, except for the one who had caught her, and the real one. The real one approached them and offered Sakura his hand.

"Sorry about that, Sakura. Some of my Shadow Clones are idiots," said Naruto, and the clone who had heard that grumbled and disappeared once the real Naruto had Sakura. They stood with their hands cupped together for awhile, forgetting why it was they had even come when this was such a perfect opportunity to get really close, and…

"You've still got a long time before you achieve my speed, Naruto-kun! Sakura-san, you did very well. I was impressed!" said Lee, popping quite literally out of nowhere. Surprised, Sakura gripped Naruto's hand tighter, but she felt as though Naruto were trying to yank it away. Was this supposed to be some kind of secret? She thought of all people Lee would be the one Naruto boasted to about, you know. It was still a concept her mind had the worst time letting sink in, but she was done denying what was, so why…

"Sakura, you're…" said Naruto, and Sakura looked down and noticed his fingers were turning purple. Eh, whoops. She loosened her grip on him slightly, and he slipped his hand out of hers, probably trying to make sure she hadn't broken any of his fingers. Sometimes Sakura didn't know her own strength.

"Lee-san, would you like to train with us?" said Sakura. Not that she really wanted him around during hers and Naruto's little training date, but then again they would just be so distracted if left all alone. Besides, she wanted to improve her speed and her taijutsu, and who better to turn to then Lee? She'd leave Naruto up to his own methods for now. He obviously had some if he was so eager to get started.

"Your spirit has enlivened me today, Sakura-san. You seem to be glowing, even," said Lee, and Sakura couldn't help but blush. She didn't think she felt or looked all that different than any other day. Then again, Lee did have a habit of turning the smallest details into tremendous things. "If you allow me, I would like to assist you in any way I can."

"Good, because I was thinking the same thing," said Sakura, taking a look over at Naruto to make she he wasn't plotting ways to rip Lee's head off. Quite the contrary, there were 500 shadow clones in the distance filling up the east block of the grounds, yelling and firing up Rasengans left and right. He didn't even pay her and Lee any mind. That was good, because she didn't think she could handle being the girlfriend of the jealous type.

There goes that girlfriend thing again, still causing her gut to ball up and her face to "glow" as Lee put it. Oh well, it wasn't a miserable feeling. That was a good start.

"Yes, my footwork's a little sloppy. I hoped you could help me with that, Lee-san," said Sakura, taking a fighting stance. "Don't go easy on me, because I won't go easy on you."

"I would like nothing more. I will assess you starting," said Lee, disappearing and then reappearing directly behind Sakura. "Now!"

His fist flew past her cheek, and she was barely able to avoid being clipped by it. That meant only one thing. Lee was going to go easy on her. Everyone always did, except for Tsunade. She was the goddess of causing torment and ache, and she beat the previous sniveling damsel right out of Sakura, much to her relief. Sakura would sometimes reflect back to her old self and see her slow progress in comparison to her team's, and her love for Sasuke, as a great, big joke. She didn't know what it was that caused her to become such a painful person to be around, but enough was enough. She was practically addicted to doing all that she could to acquire more strength, smooth out rough spots, and not hope for the best, but make the best happen now.

That was why a Lee who went easy on her ate dirt when a chakra-infused leg he didn't see coming slammed him down.

"That was me just warming up, Lee," said Sakura, and in a blur he was gone. Before she knew it, a fist connected with her dead on, and she flew back what would be a good village block or two. He was beginning to take her seriously.

\---

By midday Sakura was so sore she could barely move. She had gotten Lee so excited that, at one point he even removed his weights and had her try them. It took her half and hour to take one measly step, and that was with her chakra giving her a hand. The fact that he wore those weights like socks was more insane to her than ever before! On the flip side, Naruto looked like he was having the time of his life, tearing the place up with Rasengan, after Rasengan. He was just so focused and determined, almost like he was living in another world where she couldn't reach him. It was like the whole Kyuubi fiasco all over again, where her words and her presence did nothing to bring him back. That scared her.

"Good work, Sakura-san! I have gained a lot from your spirit and lack of fear. You are a splendid kunoichi!" said Lee, looking down at a Sakura who was lying flat on the ground and could barely move, whereas Lee still looked like he could run around the world in the blink of an eye. His energy was just… unfair! She didn't know what she'd be getting herself into by asking for his assistance. "I only regret losing you."

"Losing me?" said Sakura, pealing herself up off the ground. "This exercise hasn't exactly killed me, you know, but I'll be feeling it for about a week."

He was looking toward Naruto, all 500 of him, but she knew he wasn't going to pounce or anything. On the contrary, he had satisfied smile on his face, and seemed drawn by the way Naruto was pushing himself to the limits out there. She was glad that, in general, she didn't attract jealous psychos, or there would be blood, and she would be the one shedding it.

"I'd much rather lose to a hard-worker than a genius. First he beat Neji, now he has won your heart," said Lee, and now tears were spilling down his face. If Sakura weren't used to that she would be feeling extremely awkward at the moment. "Naruto-kun is amazing!"

"He is," said Sakura, thinking all the way back to when they had first become a team. Naruto was such an annoying loser once, but he changed. Rather, what she saw in him changed when she noticed what was beyond that loud, obnoxious boy whom she once could not stand. He had wonderful qualities, in that he worked for what he wanted, and he faced any challenge he had head-on. Naruto wasn't afraid to lose, and he always did things his own way, at his own pace.

He was so handsome, too. She loved the way he smiled, and how mature he looked once he was finally taller than she was. His face thinned out, and his body became more defined underneath that jacket, which still had more orange than she cared to see. In any case, with her heart thrumming in her chest as it was, even long after her body settled down from her sparing with Lee, she knew this was the real deal. Nothing in her mind could tell her otherwise anymore.

"I have to get going. We should do this again, sometime! I will always be happy to help you, and will always stay true to my promise that I will protect you," said Lee, giving her his nice-guy grin and thumbs up.

"Not if I end up being the one to protect you," said Sakura, and that was just the attitude that got Lee so excited. He placed his weights back on, and dashed away faster than Sakura could blink. After having tried said weights for herself, she had come to the conclusion that Lee was crazy. Then again, was there any guy in her life that wasn't?

In any case, she wanted to take a break from all this, and judging by the way Naruto's chakra began to leak red around him, it was time for him to stop, too. She didn't want to have to track down Yamato for this, assuming he was even in Konoha at the moment.

With all the strength she had left in her body, Sakura stood and ran up to the clones, trying to figure out which was the real one. She didn't have the energy to play poke and hope, so she really had to focus her attention on them. Sometimes when she watched him train this way she could correctly guess where the real Naruto was, judging by which clone stood and assessed the situation most. The real Naruto could generally be found in back of the fakes, so she didn't bother giving any thought to the first of them who she walked by. They were all tired, and the Nail-Tail's chakra was really dense around them. That, too, could cloud her judgment, but no matter what she would find the real one.

"Naruto!" she said.

When they all answered "Yeah?" she knew that method was useless. She just kept on walking through the clones, punching a few in frustration along the way and hoping she'd get lucky in the process. No deal.

"Naruto, stop this! You've done enough! Dispel your clones and take a break, you're scaring me!"

Please!" said Sakura, ready to cry at this point. She was surprised to hear that most of the yelling had stopped, and five-hundred pairs of red eyes melted back into their normal blue. One by one the clones were released in various puffs of smoke, and she couldn't see where the real Naruto was at all. It was ridiculous how hard the two of them felt the need to push themselves really, when that wouldn't bring Sasuke back any faster. Things would fall into place at their own pace, and everything would be back to the way it should be, someday. She didn't want to see Naruto shorten his lifespan like this for the sake of Sasuke, or worse, her. It was unnecessary. Naruto did so much for her just by being by her side.

"Sakura?" said Naruto, approaching her from behind. She turned to see him pretty beaten and worn out, though his eyes were very blue as they should be, and he was smiling. For that she was glad. He was already strong enough on his own without the help of that damned fox.

Noting the previous worry in her voice, Naruto reached over and cupped her cheek in his palm. His smile betrayed his concern, but he didn't want her to worry any longer either. "You OK?"

"I should be asking you that, idiot," said Sakura, and if she had the energy to punch him she would have. He could really be a careless idiot sometimes. "You should have stopped when the Kyuubi's chakra started taking over. What if the fourth tail came out?"

"Sorry about that," he said, rubbing the back of his head. "I was just so into it I couldn't stop. I think you saved me."

She wasn't the vessel of a chakra powerhouse, so bit her tongue on that one. What he said brought her back to the time where his voice saved her from Ino during the Chuunin exams, and little tears prickled at the corners of her eyes. There was something grossly romantic in the way that they'd both saved one another just by yelling at one another. Lucky for him, she was a girl who liked romance. The only things she could do for him were so small, but size didn't always matter. What mattered in the end was the result, and today ended in the two of them trained beyond their limits. Sakura could safely say she admired and aspired to protect him more now.

"That's what I'm here for," said Sakura, now leaning in to kiss him. They stood propped up against one another like that, ready to pass out while lip locked. All in all, it wasn't such a bad first training date. They got work done, and all ended well for now.

to be continued…


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naruto found that he slept much easier with company.

CHAPTER 11

Deciding Naruto had exhausted himself beyond his limits far more than she had; Sakura took the liberty of slinging his limp arm around her shoulders and carried him through town. It was not a shocking sight by any stretch of the term to the villagers they passed. Naruto walked these streets a beaten, bloodied mess, loads of times, and he wasn't the only one. A true ninja never could keep his hands clean. This was a fortunate thing, as Sakura didn't want to attract any unwarranted attention. She just wanted to get Naruto home and in bed.

"You really are an idiot," murmured Sakura, her tone curt, but playful. It was something that would never change no matter how far they took this relationship. "But you're my idiot, so no more trying to get yourself killed during training."

"Sakura?" said Naruto, unsure what to make of that really. On one hand he had to do as much as possible to become the best ninja ever, because she deserved no less. On the other, he had to do whatever she said and make her the happiest girl alive. Training? Pssh, training was nothing to him. It was this boyfriend shit that was hard to figure out. What's more, Naruto has never been renowned for his patience. He could sort of see why Sasuke went to Orochimaru as easily as he did sometimes. To gain an extraordinary amount of power in such a short amount of time? It was horribly tempting.

Not tempting enough to break Sakura's heart and make her cry, though. It was one thing when she broke into tears out of frustration. It was another thing entirely to see the crushed look in her eyes, and feel the ache in her voice. That was why he was so quick to put his life on the line just to bring Sasuke back. It helped that the guy was Naruto's best friend, his brother, and he loved him as such, but there was no more letting Sakura down. No, Naruto had to do his absolute best for her.

He couldn't, for the life of him, sort out how he was going to do that. He thought pushing himself to the limits everyday, every damn day, would be the solution. After day one, he suddenly wasn't so sure. He wasn't sure of much these days. Whatever happened to life being simple? Where he'd do his best, hop over tremendous hurdles just to get that much closer to becoming Hokage? Where was the fine line between that, and making sure the Kyuubi didn't interfere?

"Naruto?" said Sakura, knocking him out of his stupor. He shook his head and looked up at her with a smile. Well, it was more like an awkward sideways crack of a smirk, but that was just his nerves getting to him. Really now, this boyfriend thing was way harder than it looked on the outside. Sometimes he couldn't even look at her straight, which was pretty pathetic, given his age. He'd been a legal adult in Konoha for quite some time and he was being an idiot in front of his first girl. Real smooth.

"Naruto, what's your problem? We're here, lead the way." She let him go and pushed him ahead, knowing the more helpful side of the Kyuubi should have healed him sufficiently enough to get the feeling back in his legs. They entered the building and climbed the stairs toward his apartment which, after hours of hard training, were as evil as explosive diarrhea. Sakura almost thought he was going to fall backwards against her a few times, but he made it.

The two of them entered his apartment, which was beginning to look as bad as the last time Sakura had been there. Before he disappeared with Jiraiya for training all those years ago Naruto hadn't had this habit. The few times she and Sasuke visited in their younger years, she was surprised to see that Naruto was tidy. Why did Jiraiya have to go and turn her Naruto into a total slob?

"Naruto, go take a bath," said Sakura, shooing him off as she grabbed the broom. She swore she absolutely could not make a habit of cleaning his apartment for him, and this would absolutely be the second and last time. "You stink worse than this room does."

"Aww, Sakura. Can't I take a nap first?" he asked, swept by a huge yawn. She almost forgot that he'd been too tired to stand on his own just moments ago. "Please?"

"Nap while you're in the bath," Sakura suggested. "I'll be here when you wake up if you want me to be."

He grinned. "Always, Sakura. It's always good when you're around." He gave her a quick kiss. Why was the girl he loved so damn smart? She always had really great ideas.

Off to the bath he went, humming some tune he got out of nowhere. Life was good. Sakura was better.

After a substantial amount of time resting in the bath, all the bubbles had popped and all the warmth had faded. Naruto was barely on the brink of waking up, until he heard Sakura pound on the door and shout at him, "… three hours you've been in there. That's long enough…"

He wasn't quite ready to get up and out, but didn't return to his senses until he saw her throw the door open. She had her fisted hands on her hips and a death glare that would make one who wasn't used to it crap himself. That woke Naruto up! First thought that went through his head was _aww damn, she's going to kill me! What'd I do this time?!_ and the next was on the distinct lack of bubbles in the tub. On that thought his hands shot down to cover up his family jewels, and it was a wonder the water in the tub wasn't boiling, given how hot he suddenly felt.

"S-Sakura-chan! I'm naked, what the _hell?!_ " he shouted, hoping that somehow her eyes didn't catch a glimpse of you-know-what. It was bad enough fucking Sai had to talk about it in front of her, but he didn't need her looking at it so soon. She… he never even told her he loved her yet! This was all happening in the wrong order, damn it, damn it, _damn_ it. "And you say _I'm_ the pervert!?"

He ducked underneath the water for a moment, expecting her to slap him silly for that remark. Instead, when he needed to breathe, he emerged from the surface and looked into her eyes. There was no rage whatsoever. In fact, the way her pink lips shined with the cutest little pout, and the way her cheeks were just a tint darker than her hair, he could almost swear that she was horny. Well, that's not an adjective he ever thought he'd be describing Sakura with.

"I guess we'll have to even the score, Naruto," she said, unzipping her shirt very slowly, as though to tease and mock him. Oh god, oh god, oh god, he was getting a taste of his own medicine after many a Sexy no Jutsu stunt, now. She was so beautiful, and she was… was she about to touch herself? Blood was starting to trickle down Naruto's nose, and he was sweating bullets. His body temperature rose with every "Naruto" that escaped her lips. And she moaned his name just perfectly. "Naruto."

"Naruto," she whispered in his ear, having inched closer after ditching the shirt. The bra was next, she was fumbling with it behind her back. Gosh, she smelled so good, and her breath was so hot against his ear. Damn, forget the order. If she wanted to offer herself to him, he'd take her a thousand times. She was just too damn beautiful. As his own mouth hovered over the length of her body, she whispered her name some more. " _Naruto._ "

"Naruto!"

"NARUTO!"

"Naruto, it's been three hours. I'd like a bath, too, you know!" said Sakura, pounding at the door. Naruto sprung awake from his dream, disappointed and very, very erect. She couldn't have waited five more minutes for the good part to happen? Frustrated as he was, he'd have to work making his hard go down by his own hand, so he requested five more minutes and got to work, imagining the continuation of his dream as though it were real.

Sakura walked away from the door with a huff. Lucky for Naruto she was ignorant to his spicy little fantasies, and it would stay that way for the time being. What Sakura didn't know wouldn't kill him, after all.

She went back into the main room and admired her handiwork once more. Not an inch of this apartment didn't shimmer, thanks to her. Cleaning was a great workout, which was probably why Naruto kept the place in decent order once upon a time. She never knew him to be a slacker. A loser, maybe, but never a slacker. Too bad cleaning took a back seat to all his other priorities. She'd have to speak to him about that.

When the door clicked, she turned to see a very red and sopping wet Naruto. He emerged from the bathroom in nothing but a towel, and she had half a mind to deck him in the face for being a pervert, but all of his clothes were in his dresser, which she was sitting near. She didn't know what he'd been doing in the bathroom the last five minutes, just to keep her from believing he was a no good perv, though. He simply wasn't dumb enough to tell her.

"Take your time, I'll make us dinner," he said, and added "It won't just be ramen, either. I can cook a little more than that."

"Only a little?" said Sakura, but frankly she was surprised Naruto could cook at all. This would hopefully be a pleasant surprise. If not, she had plenty of money, as was in the mood for sushi. She wouldn't mind treating Naruto to dinner for once if worst came to worst. Still, she was curious. "Sounds good."

She turned away from him and went into the bathroom. As she entered, she couldn't help but notice just how dry and spotless the inside of the tub looked. Naruto certainly was a funny one, but heck, she wasn't complaining. As she ran the bath, she pealed her sweat-laced clothes off one by one, knowing darn well that she wasn't going to slip those back on until they've been run through the wash twice. Lee had absolutely no mercy, and she swore if she sweat another drop during that exercise she would have died. It was disgusting for any respectable lady to get her clothes that dirty, though she supposed it was customary for kunoichi.

She stepped into the red hot bath, allowing the water to soothe her tense muscles as she laid back and relaxed. She didn't plan on staying there half as long as Naruto had, but nonetheless she wanted to at least be clean and relaxed enough to survive the rest of the day, perhaps even the night. Naruto wasn't letting their new found relationship sink in so well, and Sakura wanted him to know that this was for real. She was willing to do just about anything to convince him.

Sakura's nose ducked below the water on that thought. _Anything_ , huh? She wasn't so sure that _anything_ was an option at the moment. It had been what, about two days since they'd shared their first kiss? Wasn't contemplating the possibility of S-E-X just a little too sudden?

This time her entire head shot below the surface of the water, and she was shaking her head back and forth. She had her share of crushes (Sasuke mostly, but another cutie or two caught her eye in the midst of her epic "love." That, and she pondered the pros and cons of letting Lee take her out on a date.) However, Naruto won her over against all odds, and she finally had her first boyfriend. Damn it, first boyfriend? Ino must have had three by now, at least, not that Sakura wanted to play catch up, or anything. Naruto was worth way more than some petty rivalry.

It was interesting just how highly she thought of him, now. Once he was nothing but a useless oaf that existed merely to get on her nerves. How can people change so much? Rather, how could she have gone so long without knowing? Indeed she ended up on the team with the boy she was meant to love, but that boy wasn't Sasuke.

Her head burst from the surface of the water, and she took deep breaths one by one as streams of water zigzagged down her cheeks. Love. That was also a bit sudden. Heck, that was even scarier than sex. At least some people could turn their backs and walk their way out of that one without a thought in mind. Love was a cruel mistress that could chew your heart and spit it right back out if you allow it to consume you. She'd been consumed with Sasuke, rather, the idea of Sasuke. After him, she was afraid of love, and the hurt it risked, hell, the hurt it promised! Her good opinion of Sasuke was dead, and she didn't want to lose her good opinion of Naruto.

It was apparent to her that he didn't want to hurt her, which was good to know. She could count on him to take her thoughts and feelings into account, something Sasuke wasn't good at. He took her life into account, and that was pretty much it.

Sakura sighed. She was so very tired of comparing Sasuke and Naruto, and making Sasuke out to be some kind of bad guy. He wasn't. Sasuke is Sasuke, and he simply wasn't right for her. That's all there was to it. She wished she could just leave it at that, but after the millionth time thinking that exact thought, she may as well give up. Even if it wasn't right for her, the love she felt for Sasuke was very real. She wasn't going to erase that from her heart anytime soon.

She also wasn't going to burden Naruto with the shame of having to hide what they had now. Even if it was brand new, it was just as real as every day of her life she wasted on loving Sasuke. If he so pleased then he could announce what they had to the world for all she cared. The inner romantic in her wanted him to, sort of. That is, if he could do it in a way that was more cool than stupid, though she doubted that. She smiled at the thought.

Sakura grabbed a bar of soap and started scrubbing herself. If she became anymore immersed in her thoughts then she'd be in that tub a lot longer than Naruto was, and his special little dinner would get cold. That'd be a shame, because she really was curious to see if he could actually cook. Truth be told, ramen and toast were pretty much the only things she could cook right. Then there was fresh fish over a bon fire, which Team 7 just kind of winged during their missions. Sometimes she really missed the good old days.

After she gave her hair a good scrub and rinse, she stepped out of the tub and watched all of the water and suds twirl down the drain as she toweled herself dry. That didn't take anymore than an hour at most, and heck she couldn't smell any burning, so Naruto might not have been failing hard core in the kitchen.

Speaking of failure, Sakura looked down at the lid of the toilet, where she rested her fowl clothing. Now, she simply refused to put those back on, but damn it all she forgot to borrow clothes from Naruto before she came in the bathroom! Things were bound to become very, very awkward.

Sakura gulped and wrapped her towel around her as snug as she could. She absolutely refused to let it slide off! _He'd like that, wouldn't he!_ Sakura's inner shouted, and Sakura twitched. He'd either like that way too much, or he'd jump out the window at the sight of her man boobs. Well no, they weren't quite that bad, but she couldn't bear the thought. Not now. Not while she was supposed to be playing the reassuring role tonight.

With a few deep breaths, Sakura flung the door open and walked out. Naruto was going to see her like this regardless. Better to get it done sooner than later, she reasoned. The possibility of throwing on her filthy clothes was looming over her more and more as she entered the main room. Naruto had set two plates and two bowls of rice on the table, and he nearly dropped the two glasses of water he had in each hand when he spotted her. She clamped her hand against the two corners of the towel and refused to look at him.

"I, um, need clothes," said Sakura, and her inner was going nuts over how he was just standing there, gawking like a total maroon. _That's right, big boy. Get a good look cos it'll be your last!_

"R-right!" said Naruto, placing one of the glasses down on the table. He walked over toward his dresser, fishing around for something she could actually wear. She noticed his eyes drift toward her every now and then, but they were more nervous gazes than perverse ones, hence the reason he didn't taste her fist for taking so darn long. Besides, fist that got the message across required enough force to knock her towel clean off, then it'd become a great, big victory for him. If he wanted to see the goods underneath the towel, he was going to have to earn it, just like everything else.

"Here!" he squeaked, shoving a t-shirt and his smallest pair of boxers into her hands. "Wow, I really wasn't expecting you to walk out in only a… yeah."

In spite of herself, Sakura tried to lighten the mood by saying, "I guess we had to even the score" in reference to his walking out in only a towel. She hadn't expected him to spit out and choke on the water he was drinking when she said that, though. Was it really that serious? Her boyfriend was such a weirdo.

In any case, she got herself dressed, and threw her clothes in the wash along with Naruto's. Then she sat herself at the dinner table, pleasantly surprised by what he had prepared. It wasn't much, but clearly he had her on his mind with the plate of boiled, assorted vegetables. Then beside it was a small bowl of rice, which was customary addition to a normal dinner.

On his plate there was trout, which he claimed to have come out of some frozen dinner pack he found on sale once (but he threw away all the vegetables that came with it, typical Naruto.) He knew she couldn't stand to ingest things with preservatives, so he ran the risk of getting many a various door in the building slammed in his face on his quest for vegetables. Thankfully some newbie from the Mist moved in awhile ago and was very, very nice. He got all kinds of stuff just to please his Sakura.

She was very pleased, too. Where the food itself wasn't all that impressive, it was the thought that counted. They spoke very little as they ate, and when they were done Sakura offered to clean the dishes. The mood had become so light that it was almost surreal. It was almost as if some force from the great beyond had scripted this very moment in their lives. Sakura laughed as Naruto joked around and she dried plates. At one point he managed to make a total asstard of himself and fall backwards from leaning too far back in his seat. Sakura left him to pick himself up off the floor as she walked toward his bed. The sun was setting, and she wanted to watch.

"Naruto," she said, when he finally caught up and took a seat beside her. She watched the sunset through the window, and he watched it in her eyes. "Do you think things can always be like this?"

"Huh?" He cocked his head to the left in confusion. "Like what?"

"You know," she sighed, turning and falling back against his crossed legs. She rested her damp head against his ankles. "Peaceful, carefree, lo-loving…"

He didn't say anything, but she could tell that his mind was racing. She hadn't meant to let that last one slip past, but she had a hard time keeping her thoughts and feelings to herself, regardless of whether or not she feared them. Even if this rushed things a bit, if she couldn't be open from the beginning then how could they possibly work in the future?

"Sorry, Naruto. That…" _That_ nothing. She didn't need to say anymore and she didn't want to. Damn this girlfriend thing was really hard. How in the world did Ino make it seem so easy? She needed pointers and fast.

"Sakura," he started, and she could feel just how tense he was by the sound of his voice. He placed his hand on her shoulder, and she placed her hand on top of his. "A lot of things in my life have changed, so much that I don't think a lot of things last.

"But I… damn it, Sakura. I suck at this shit." He laughed, and then he sighed. That was OK, because Sakura sucked at it, too.

That was the last that the two of them spoke until the sun was completely gone, and all that could be seen is a faint strip of orange over the horizon. Naruto was threading his fingers through clumps of Sakura's wet hair, and she didn't seem like she was ready to say anything anytime soon. Normally Naruto had the words to say in almost any situation, then again, normally he was single, and so he was at a loss. As the moonlight, and street lights began to trickle in, he reached over and switched on his bedside lamp. He had no clue when Sakura would be going home. Never, if he had it his way, but that was up to her. She was more than welcome to stay the night. Naruto found that he slept much easier with company.

When she lifted her head from his crossed ankles, he noticed that somewhere in the middle of all this his feet had fallen asleep. Yeah, he noticed that for all of maybe twenty seconds until Sakura leaned over and kissed him, again, and again, and again.

"It's OK, Naruto," said Sakura, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. The proximity was just a tad daunting, only enough that Naruto forgot to breathe for a moment there. Her lips found their way to his again, pressed firm and chaste to them as though she didn't know where to take it from there. Naruto slid one hand back up into her hair and the other around her waist. He licked her lips, and she gasped, opening the way for his tongue. He swirled his curious tongue around hers, getting the taste and feel of her that he'd always dreamed of. He pulled her forward just a little more, deepening that heated kiss. Not an inch of her mouth went unexplored, and when they broke apart they were panting.

The next kiss Naruto dove in for, but this time her tongue got the better of his. It was a little awkward and sloppy, as she had a trickle of saliva escape from the corner of her mouth, but it felt so good that he just didn't care. They got so caught up in the heat of it; Naruto eventually had her pinned to the mattress as he ravaged her jaw and mouth with kisses. Kisses which trailed down her neck, and to the one shoulder the oversized shirt exposed. Her breathing was uneven and strange, and he was hard as a rock. This was all happening so fast, and where he wanted her, fuck did he want her so bad, he was afraid of where it would lead.

So he backed off for a little bit and took a deep breath, and Sakura lifted herself up, having snapped herself out of whatever that was. Damn, she was trying to be reassuring here, not, well, slutty. Where would it have gone if Naruto hadn't backed off? Sakura wasn't sure she wanted to know. Guys did turn her into an idiot sometimes, after all.

"It's kinda late, yeah," said Naruto, scratching his unkempt head of hair. It wasn't really all that late, but he couldn't think of anything else to say. He was fresh out of anything useful to do or say. Sakura did turn him into an idiot sometimes, after all.

"Do you want me to go?" asked Sakura, noting that the clothes in the wash should have been finished. They wouldn't take long to dry, and then she could be out of Naruto's hair if he wanted her gone. It was getting late, and unlike him she didn't even get a nap in the bath. She was sore and exhausted, and not looking forward to the long walk home.

"No, I don't," said Naruto. She was sitting up, and he crawled over and wrapped his arms around her. "You're always welcome here. You can stay here forever for all I care."

 _Tone those muscles in your arms anymore big boy and I might just take you up on that offer_ , said inner Sakura with a cackle. There was a fine line between desire and reason. Now, spending forever with Naruto sounded good at the moment, but she knew it would take a long time before she decided whether or not it was even possible. So if forever meant tonight, then sure, she would be happy to stay with him forever. Then in the morning she'd be off to work, probably as groggy and useless as the last time she and Naruto did this bed sharing thing together.

This time, though, she wouldn't bother making him move over.

The End


End file.
